Guardian Angel?
by Scarlett-Whitecross20
Summary: Guardian angels are supposed to help, right? But what if their "help" isn't all that helpful? That's the answer the turtles and their friends must decipher, when a new enemy surfaces to attack one of their own.
1. Intro

Vision blurred; ears ringing... Nothing but darkness, beyond the single source of light above him; like a spotlight in an empty auditorium. The young turtle leader leaned forward ever so slightly, _tension_. Looking down he struggled against the restraints, nothing budging. He wanted to call for help, but words failed him. All he could do was grunt and groan, as he strained against the straps._ Where was he? How much time had passed? How did he arrive here?_ The last thing he remembered what being in Shredder's old Lair, and the next... His memory was fuzzy, and any events that transpired there seemed to be beyond his reach at the moment. _How had this come about?_ _And were his friends and family alright?_ These thoughts whirled round his head... as a door slowly creaked open; shattering, said, thoughts in an instant...

~Guardian Angel?~

~coming soon~


	2. Strange Call

TMNT: Guardian Angel?

Chapter one: Strange Call

"Alright, here we go everybody!! Movie marathon, aww yeah!!" Michelangelo cheered, plopping down in from of the television. The ninja turtles and their friends; April O'Neil and Casey Jones, gathered together, snacks and pillows lay everywhere around them. They all sat there lounging about in the main sitting area of the Lair getting comfortable; when a rocking ringtone sounded. Recognizing it, Leonardo reached for his T-phone and answered it.

"Hello?" He said, holding the phone to his ear, not even looking at the number that was calling him.

"Leo, I need to talk to you." A familiar raspy voice answered.

"Karai?" Leo asked, keeping his voice low as not to draw attention to himself. He stood up to turn away from the others.

"It's important." Karai told him. "Meet me at the Channel 6 News building... And please.. come alone." Without another word she hung up and the line went fuzzy. Leo stared off in confusion, boggled by this sudden occurrence and the strange tone of her voice. Realizing that he needed some answers, he strode off toward the stairs; but stopped once he'd arrived at them.

"Leo? Where are you going?" April's voice asked, and he turned around to see her standing up where she'd been sitting; her eyes searching his.

"I'm going to meet Karai. I should be back soon." The young mutant responded simply.

"Need any backup?" Raphael asked, gazing up at his brother, only slightly suspicious.

"Uh... nah, it shouldn't take long. I'll be back." Leo decided, shrugging. Then, with that, everyone turned back to the television, April sat back down with them; and Leo turned and headed out of the Lair.

_XXXX_

Leonardo landed with a light thud at his destination. A gentle breeze blew at his mask tails, the cool of night replacing the warm cheerful light of the sun. The chill in the air was of nothing but a reminder of the season that was now upon them; spring. Leo turned to stand just barely near the edge of the building's roof; legs spread apart in a dramatic stance. He stared out over the city below; his home. New York City. The place he'd been raised below his entire life, the place Master Splinter had kept from them until only a few years ago. The place that he'd come to know over those few years. And though it had only _been_ a few years, it felt like he'd been around it all along. Like he'd been up here all his life; like he'd been raised up here just like anyone else. This was the one place in the whole world he'd _always_ feel safe in. His thoughts, however, were interrupted by the thud of feet behind him and he turned. The new Foot Clan Leader emerged from the shadows, standing opposite him; a stoic, reserved look on her face.

"Ok, we're here, Karai." Leo stated, gesturing with his hands innocently. "What is this about?"

"I'm afraid I _really_ can't tell you." The kunoichi responded simply.

"What?!" Leo gasped in surprise. "Then why are we here?" Karai said nothing, instead she strode towards him until they were face to face. Her eyes remained fixed on his as she stood before him; the look in them different from anything he'd seen before.

"What.. are we.. doing here, Karai." Leo asked, a little more intensely.

"I'm sorry, Leo." She said, just as firmly. She lurched forward, touching her middle and forefingers to a specific point on his neck and flicked her wrist. As soon as she did this, Leo felt a slight twinge and a slight dizziness come to his head. He staggered back a bit, as the dizziness quickly faded into darkness. The two soldiers accompanying the kunoichi caught him before he hit the ground. Karai turned her shoulder perpendicular to him. She regretfully gazed down at him, as she waved a hand for them to take him away.

_XXXX_

The characters on the screen entranced the young teens and mutants watching it. All of them hanging on to every word that was spoken in a hollow daze.

"Hey..so..um, what do you think Karai wanted?" Raph asked the group, diverting his eyes briefly to look at his brothers and friends. Mikey, Casey, and Donnie shrugged; their eyes still glued to the tv.

"Maybe she just wanted some company." April shrugged, looking at the turtle in red. Raph just tensed his brow curiously, unsure that that was the case. _Since when? _He was thinking.

_XXXX_

Padded feet splashed into a small puddle, their cloak hiding their features; and any means of identification. Two others in similar attire at their side, another figure approached the trio. The group of men stood before the newcomers; no one uttering a word. The black hair and sunglasses at the center of the five person cluster, gave away the leader of the Purple Dragons quite clearly. Hun held up a photo to the newly arrived guest, depicting three shadowy figures.

"Is _this_ the one I seek?" The stranger asked, not moving a muscle.

"The one on the right, is the one you seek, sir." Hun confirmed, with a slight nod. "But be warned, he is highly skilled. Best to watch your back with him, he is smarter than he appears."

"He will be of no concern." The stranger responded, his Japanese accent heavily obvious. "For he knows not what is coming." And he lunged forward and sliced right through the picture, leaving it lying in two halves on the wet concrete floor. He then proceeded to walk through the divide in the Purple Dragons' group. Only to whip around and utter something in Japanese, to which ninjas of his own leapt forth from the darkness of the ship they'd just arrived on.

"Watashi no kyōdai ga kimasu!" He thundered regally. "Let us find our perpetrator, to silence the _rest_ of them." Then they all disappeared into the night, leaving Hun and his gang behind.

_XXXX_

The silence was the only companion to the old Ninjitsu Master. His posture well managed and disciplined, his senses keenly aware; and attuned to whatever his meditation was meant to focus on. Splinter's energies remained in one place together, not one thought straying him from his task. That ability coming from years of practice, even despite raising four mutant turtles. And though they kept him busy for all these years; he never lost this ability to focus so deeply into his own mind, to center himself in mere seconds. It became his only escape from being a parent, though there was no job he'd rather have. But he, like many parents, desired a break at times. A time where he could relax without having to worry about his sons getting into mischief without his supervision. Though, being teenagers, his supervision _wasn't_ always the easiest to give; what with them always running off to go joyriding in the city above.

Still, he loved his sons more than anything in the world. And wouldn't trade them for anything, even after the loss of his beloved wife; Tang Shen. And even though Miwa; his daughter, was now Karai, he couldn't be happier to have her back in his life. Oh how long had he mourned her supposed_ 'death' _with her mother, only to discover that she was alive. And, having been deceived by the hands of the Shredder, now understands the truth; turning away from him so fiercely to go vengefully after him instead. Though Splinter never condoned such things for anyone, especially his own daughter, he knew he couldn't fully stop her. And being as wise as he'd become over the years, he knew that he would have to keep reminding her of what is right; and allow her to make the choice for herself. Though the recent event in which his own son, the most responsible and accountable of the four, was revealed to have been aiding and abetting her goal. The thought still angered him, but the intentions his son, no doubt, had were true; of that, he was quite sure. And even though Leonardo, himself, doesn't fully know why he thought it was a good idea; Splinter knew he had good intentions in doing it. And while he still was disappointed that Leo had done it, he loved him too much to be angry at him for long. As he sat there; crossed-legged, as usual, he meditated. His thoughts flowing together in a single direction, _what came to mind that caused this decision?_ He was thinking. Even though Leo's decision had good intentions, he still knew it was wrong; and wondered what his son was thinking when he chose to go through with it anyway.

"Your son was going through a time of vulnerability." A voice echoed, and Splinter's eyes shot open as he searched for its owner. Suddenly he noticed to his left the spiritual figure of... "father?" The rat man slowly rose as did Hamato Yuuta.

"My son... the one you call your son has been going through a phase in his life, that has not quite ended." Master Hamato told him. "A phase that has effected him mentally, and still remains so. And all he needs... is your support."

"Even if his choices are bad ones." Splinter returned, a bit agitated.

"His choices may not be right, but you as his father must continue to guide him down the right path. So he can grow, and flourish even more for you to take pride in." Yuuta replied his voice calm and one-note. Splinter closed his eyes and sighed.

"I understand, Father." He said, but opening his eyes again... found nothing.

**Hey guys!! Been a while since I've written a TMNT fic, that's for sure! But hopefully it'll be well worth it!! Also do not be alarmed by some of the Japanese I use here, they usually just mean basic things and if you like I can translate at the end of each chapter. But anyway, I hope this first chapter get you intrigued. I will be posting this story every Friday, on a weekly basis. So... until next Friday!! Thx!!!**


	3. Odd Awakening

Chapter two: Odd Awakening

Leonardo's eyes slowly fluttered open, he groaned as he began to push himself up off the ground onto his knees and hands. He felt slight pinch in his neck, and a hint of lightness to his head; as he shifted back to sit upright. Looking around he realized exactly where he was, and it came to him near immediately. _Karai's dungeon!! _He thought. The immediate feelings of betrayal sunk their fangs into him; but then he took another look and realized that he was in the main area, and not in a cell. Realizing this difference, he began to rack his brain as to what it meant. But these thoughts were short-lived, as the clang of metal on metal sounded and the door opened; and the person in question emerged from the darkened hallway behind her. Her expression soft and almost unreadable. Leo rose from his place immediately upon seeing her, his blue eyes bore into hers.

"Karai! W- why would you do this?! I thought you were better than this. Why did you bring me here?!" He questioned, his gaze challenging hers.

"I _had_ to bring you here..." Karai responded simply, a hint of restrained frustration in her tone. She dropped her gaze away from him. "To protect you." Leo's face lit up in confusion.

"Protect me? From what? What's going on?" The turtle questioned further.

"Look, I want to tell you everything, I do. But I can't take that risk." Karai turned her shoulder to him; her face downcast.

"Then if you're not going to tell me, I'm just gonna go home." Leo started to walk away towards he door, but Karai stepped in his way quickly.

"No!" She said, her eyes flashing with a fear he'd never seen in them before. "Leo, I know this is hard to understand. But I can't let you leave."

"Well you won't tell me why?" Leo protested attempting again, but the kunoichi blocked him again.

"I don't think you understand, if you leave here now, you may not even _get_ back to the Lair." She told him firmly, getting in his face a little.

"Than why won't you tell me so we can deal with it?!" The mutant demanded, becoming very frustrated now.

"Because I can't!" Karai shouted back. The two stood glaring at one another for a few moments. The other ninjas accompanying the new Foot Clan Leader stood back, away from this. Karai's gaze dropped and softened. "Look, all I can tell you is that someone is after you. And if I let you go now, they will find you."

"Who are they, and what could they possibly want from me?" Leo asked intensely.

"Your life." Karai returned just as firmly. "And I can't let that happen." Leo stepped forward, his hands in fists by his sides. "I don't wanna hurt you, Leo." The girl told him. "And I don't wanna have to fight you." Looking her in the eyes again, he could tell that she meant it; and released his death-gripping fists.

"Then what do you want to do?" He asked in a low, slightly restrained, voice; still glaring at her.

"I don't know yet. I've doubled security around the perimeter and have sent out scouts to find them. But I'm still trying to figure out a plan of attack." The kunoichi admitted.

"Tell me what you know, I wanna help you, Karai." Leo begged.

"You know I can't do that." Karai interjected. Leo dropped his hands to his sides once more.

"Then what am I supposed to do? Just wait around until this blows over?" He questioned sourly.

"Unfortunately, I don't think it will." Karai admitted, looking away from him. "We need to take him out if we're going to keep you safe." She slammed her fist into her hand to further reinforce her statement. "I'll come and check on you often. But until then... just-.. stay here?" She looked at him in such a way as to beg him to think other than what he was. Leonardo had never seen this from her before and, frankly, it kinda worried him. _What could possibly have her so set on keeping me here for protection? _He was thinking. Karai finally broke their gaze, and turned to leave.

"Wait!" Leo's voice stopped her in her tracks and she peered back at him. Leo dropped his hand to his side again, lowering his voice with it. "At least let me tell the guys where I am; let them know I'm okay." Karai seemed to think long and hard about this, before hesitantly handing him his T-phone. "Just-.. don't make them suspicious.. And definitely don't tell them everything you've heard." She said, her expression half trusting him to listen, the other half still concerned that he wouldn't.

_XXXX_

The rest of the team were still watching tv and eating snacks when ringtones went off around the room. Donnie picked up his T-phone and looked at it.

"Hey, anyone else get a text from Leo?" He asked flatly, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"Yeah." Was the reply, as everyone was also looking at their own T-Phones.

"He says he's staying with Karai tonight and for us to not worry about him." April recited. She looked up, followed by the others, to see Master Splinter standing there; having just joined them from the dojo. His expression tense and inwardly suspicious; though not showing by his face.

"You know, isn't it a little weird that Leo is staying with Karai?" Mikey pointed out cautiously. "Like overnight?"

"Now that you mention it." Raph realized, putting a hand to his chin.

"We can't assume anything." April put in, placing a hand on Raph and Donnie's shoulders. "Maybe he's just worried about her for some reason. Or maybe she needed him for something."

"Or maybe something's wrong and we need to find him to figure out what." Raph returned slamming his knuckles into his hand.

"Leonardo has been known to go off on his own. So it is possible that he is trying to deal with something on his own." Master Splinter vocalized. He sighed, closing his eyes.

"Again?" Raph questioned, rolling his eyes sarcastically. "Didn't he learn anything from the _last_ time that happened?" April nudged him intensely with her elbow; silencing him at once.

"We must find him." Master Splinter said, staring off in front of him determinedly.

_XXXX_

"Master, we have not found any sign of the one you seek, but there is word on the street of his appearance." A ninja reported bowing low before his leader. The stranger turned around to glare down at him with a steely eye; arms folded behind his back.

"What word have you heard of him." He demanded sharply.

"There's a rumor that he was last seen conspiring with the heiress of the Foot." The ninja responded.

"I can guarantee you, she.. is _no_ heiress." The Master sneered. "Leave me." He turned his back to him and the ninja walked backwards hunched in a respectful bow, his fist in his hand as he backed out of the room. Half the man's reflection looked back at him from the glass as he focused his vision beyond it. "Soon, senshi. I shall find you." He said, naturally holding his posture.

_XXXX_

"I say we head over to Karai's and demand an explanation!" Raph decided, toughly standing there with his fists up.

"I don't think they're working together again." April defended, realizing something. "Leo's better than that. He learned his lesson when Donnie got caught in that explosion a couple weeks ago. Plus, I sensed he was... confused by something before he left. Whatever's going on, I don't think even Leo knows what." Master Splinter stood listening to this... and made a decision.

"There will be no demanding." He said closing his eyes briefly. "But we must go to Karai's and ask for an explanation. I am going with you." Everyone stood up to look at him blankly. "Come, let us go." He finished. They all gave a single nod and took off out of the Lair.

"Everyone to the Shell-Razor!" Donnie called, standing just inside the door to the vehicle and waving them over. Quickly filing in, the doors closed and they took off for the surface.

_XXXX_

"So.. are you sure that we can handle protecting Leonardo on our own?" Shinigami asked, placing a hand on her hip.

"We have to." Karai responded taking up her weapon to practice. "There _is_ no one else... No one knows him like I do."

"But at least having someone else around to help would be nice." The witch girl shrugged. "I mean, wouldn't it be nice to have someone as skilled as Splinter on our side." Karai sliced her invisible opponent freezing in a frontal stance; knees bent, blade held horizontally at nose level.

"I've already endangered one member of my family." Karai responded firmly, standing straight up. "I'm not about to endanger more of them."

"Too bad, sister." The two girls stopped and turned toward the voice. Raphael stood in the doorway, with the other teens and turtles in a "V"-like formation behind him; Splinter standing inside the "V".

"Raphael?!" Karai gasped.

"Where's Leo, Karai." April questioned. "We know he was coming to meet with you."

"It's not what you think." Karai responded innocently. Splinter came forward, the team parting ways for him to walk through.

"Miwa, what is going on here?" He asked. His voice firm, yet gentle and polite as well. The girl descended the steps to approach him. She dropped to a one-legged kneel, with her right palm to the floor in a respectful, humbled bow.

"Father." She stood up. "Believe me when I say we are not up to anything." April extended a hand to read her mind.

"She's right, Leo's not working with her on anything." She said, dropping her arm to her side slowly.

"Ok, then what _is_ going on here." Raph questioned.

"And what did you need Leo to meet you for?" Donnie added suspiciously.

"Because I needed him for something." Karai returned quickly.

"Oh, ok, then where is he?" Raph asked, crossing his arms and challenging her gaze with his own. Karai looked at them, and then down. April stepped forward to psychically learn the truth; but Splinter somehow saw her intent, despite not actually seeing her, and stopped her with the wave of a hand.

"No." He said, as his hand moved. "I want the truth to come from Karai." She guiltily looked from the ground, up at him.

**What's up everybody?! Another interesting chapter I hope! And more is yet to come! I am excited for this fic because it is something I've wondered about. And for those of you who don't know... I have two other TMNT fics that you can check out. One being my first from a year or two ago called Old Wounds. And the other being a fairly recent one-shit called Darkest Pain(a reference to the episode Darkest Plight; which is, like, one of my most favorite episodes of the entire series!)**

**Also if you're a major fan of TMNT you may know about a head-cannon character Venus Demilo(female mutant turtle version of Leonardo), which is the first part of my profile name. This is actually a nickname of mine(mostly by my friend Flicka Light Beast), so sometimes I get called Venus it just V. I'm fine either! My profile name is basically a reference to my two most favorite shows so far! Voltron Legendary Defender and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Anyway, enough random bunny trails, hopeyoure enjoying this fic. And I can't wait to hear your thoughts on it. Thx!!!**


	4. Confliction!

Chapter three: Confliction!

The little metal window slid aside and the turtles peeped through it.

"Leo!!" Mikey squeaked, catching a glimpse of his brother in blue inside the dimly lit room.

"Guys?" Leo looked up to see them and stood up to come to the door. "Uh- What are you doing here?" The young leader seemed just as surprised to see them, as they were to see him.

"Leonardo." Leo was half shocked to hear Master Splinter's voice.

"Sensei?!" He gasped. Suddenly the door opened and the team flooded in.

"Are you alright?" April asked.

"I'm fine." Leo confirmed, as April took his hand and examined him carefully. "But- What are you all doing here?! I thought I told not to worry about me?"

"Yeah, well, since when do you not come home for the night." Raph interjected, sarcastically crossing his arms; his eyes challenging Leo's. "What are doing here anyway?" He gestured to him briefly.

"Wish I knew." Leo responded, looking at Karai; who sheepishly looked away.

"My son, there must be an explanation." Master Splinter said, stepping forward to place a hand on his shoulder.

"I know Sensei. But I'm not the one who can give it..." Leo responded simply. "It's Karai." He looked past his master; to which he followed, peering at her through the corner of his eye. Karai turned to face him and dropped her head in shame.

"Father, you must know that, I want nothing more than to tell you everything." The girl began. "But Leo's life is severely in danger. And mine as well... And I cannot in good conscious endanger the rest of you.. Please; go back to your Lair, where it is safe."

"Karai. If there is someone after you, please let us help you." Splinter gently begged. "We are your family, and we want to help you. _I_ want to help you, my daughter." Karai dropped her chin and closed her eyes once more.

"I can't." She sighed remorsefully. "I won't let my bad decision endanger all of you. It's bad enough I've put Leo in this position. I won't allow it to go any further."

"Miwa, can I talk you; alone." Splinter asked, after a moments pause. Karai looked from her father to the turtles beyond him; all of them gathered around Leonardo.

"Fine." She decided finally. "Guard the doors." She ordered her ninjas, as she and Splinter strode for the door. Before leaving the room, Splinter stopped and turned around again.

"Remain here. I will return shortly; stay with your brother." He told the turtles, then left. As soon as they were alone, everyone turned their gaze on Leo who gazed around at them; slightly surprised by the sudden stare they gave him. And was taken aback by the emotions he saw panning across their faces.

_XXXX_

"Karai. You are my daughter; and Leonardo is my son. And I, as your father, know that there is nothing more important than family. And I am willing to take any risk I can to protect you both." Splinter paced about around the main throne room. With the lights off and the moonlight shining through the many glass windows, it created a natural light almost like daytime.

"I understand that father, but I'm afraid it's not that simple." Karai's responded turning her shoulder to him. "Our lives are both in danger because of what we did. And now it's coming back to haunt us. I can't let the rest of you be caught up in all of this."

"What is it that you have done to be in such danger?" Splinter asked, half begging for an answer. Karai turned to face him squarely.

"I should have never gone after Shredder's facilities. Someone has been sent to take us out, and I don't think Leo is safe anywhere until he is stopped.

"So you make him an easier target by locking him up?" Splinter answered dryly.

"I don't know what else to do." The kunoichi protested in a slightly panicky manner. "If he's not properly protected, they will find him and take him out. Leo is skilled but even _he_ doesn't stand a chance against them."

"Then let us help you. We can be his protection. The Shredder may be missing, but he is still out there; and anyone who works with or for him must also be stopped."

"But what if we're not enough? What if he overpowers us? Then we'll all be in trouble."

"That is a risk I am willing to take, my daughter." Splinter told her coming to place a hand on her shoulder. "Your lives are too important to me to sit back and watch, while this new enemy threatens your lives." Karai stood there staring up into his tender loving eyes.

"An old friend from Japan is here to take us out." Karai told him, an intense expression of her face. "He likely wants revenge on Leo, Shini, and I for attacking Shredder's operations."

"Then we must prepare for the battle, to protect you all." The old rat master decided. Karai flashed a slight smile that faded immediately after, as her eyes settled on the floor once more.

Glass suddenly shattered in an explosion that released a cloud which enveloped the entire room. Splinter and Karai jumped clear, as something burst through the explosion at them. Karai drew her weapon holding it up horizontally across her face. Splinter stood back to back with her; their shoulders, and attention, pointing in the direction in which they'd just come from. A figure stood in the dying cloud of dust, they reached for something and the slice of a blade being unsheathed sounded.

_XXXX_

Everyone looked up at the thundery bang that shook the ground, which originated from above them.

"What the heck was that?!" Raph cried.

"Something not good." Donnie answered nervously. "Come on, let's go check it out!"

"You guys go. I'm staying here." Leo told them. The team looked back at him to protest.

"Don't worry." Shinigami told them, stepping up next to Leo confidently looking at them. "I'll stay with Leonardo." She placed a hand on him and they smiled at one another. Raph was going to protest but lowered his head and sighed.

"Fine." He said, only slightly loosening his grip on his Sai. "Let's move." He called, racing out the door, followed by everyone else. But as soon as they'd left, Leo began to get a sinking feeling; one he didn't want to see fulfilled.

_XXXX_

The moonlight glinted off it, as the hand that held it gripped the handle; then the cloud spilt a part and the blackness lurched forward from it. Karai lunged forward as well going low, Splinter preparing to defend on high. The sword wielding stranger blocked the upward attack and knife handed her aside, clashing blades with Splinter's jade katana. Splinter was shoved off balance and managed to adjust in time to block a punching frenzy from the dark newcomer. Landing a few combos himself, they continued to battle each other. Karai groaned and looked up to see this and somehow saw flashes of Splinter fighting Shredder. She gasped as a sense of fear began to claw its way into her very soul.

The door was pulled open by Raph and Mikey, and they all peered in to see the battle that was now going on.

"Woah!" Mikey gasped, as Donnie went to help recover Karai. Unfamiliar Foot ninja appeared around the throne room in front of them.

"What's going on?! Who are these guys?!" Raph questioned no one in particular.

"*grunt* The ones who want me, Shinigami, and Leo dead." Karai breathed, regretfully kicking herself for allowing this to come about. Splinter blocked the stranger's blade with his own, stepping back and dodging attacks skillfully as best he could. Splinter recognized these moves as those of the Shredder; and knew that he belonged to that loyalty.

"We've gotta help Master Splinter!!" Mikey cried. A ninja landed a kick to Donatello from behind; sending him tumbling into the glass casing on their far right.

"Donnie!!" Raph cried leaping over toward him, and the turtle in purple recovered himself. Raph looked from him to the ninjas in front of him; weapons drawn, and anger bubbling up within him. With an angry battle cry, he launched himself into battle. April helped Donnie up and they too immersed themselves into battle.

"We can't let them get to Leo!" Karai declared, determinedly. She then rushed forth, leading the rest of the team into battle.

_XXXX_

Leo and Shinigami stood waiting, the anxiety of the mysterious explosion from above, fully on their minds. The sudden sound of grunts and clanging weapons, put both of them on high alert. Each of them grabbed their weapons and held them ready as the scuffle outside ceased. The door opened and a single mercenary ninja stood in the door way. The two stood there staring intensely at it, the ninja's eyes rolled back into his head and he limply fell to the ground. And immediately an object flew at them from the darkness behind him. The mutant and witch girl split off to dodged the object which hit the wall between the cells and burst. The cloud that resulted hung in there air, as though it were fog that had somehow been brought inside. Leo and Shini held their weapons diligently, pacing about waiting for the attacker to show themself. Both being skilled warriors themslves, they sensed their silent attacks and evaded as best the could. Leo held his blade up in front of him, listening for the wisp of movement; his eyes tensely darting about in search of them. A blade stabbed at him from behind and he managed to dodge it. Then whipped around to catch it, only for its owner to slice at him a few times and disappear again. Leo looked left then right and edged backwards, keeping all his senses peeled for the intruders. He and Shinigami found each other, stepping back to back into each other; proceeding to step around in a circle. Hearing a wisp here and a whisk there; the witch girl turned her head to peer at Leo from the corner of her eye, and the two exchanged a nod. Reaching behind her back she took out something, which she concealed at her side. Another attack came and Leo caught the blade both of his; defending Shini. About four or five more leapt at them, and before they reached her, Shinigami blew a dust around into their faces. Leo threw the ninja's blade off his, and covered his eyes as the dust caught his opponent in the face. Then Shinigami stood straight up, flapping her cape out in a single movement, scattering the dust cloud with her own. Leo uncovered his eyes and smiled at her; giving her a thumbs up. When... _BLAM!!!_ Another exploding object sent them to the floor. As the dust from it cleared near immediately, Shini looked up, and she received a blow to her back sending her down once again. Looking up with her eyes, she saw Leonardo laying perpendicular to her. He wasn't moving, and his arms were up by his head, hiding his face. Her own vision blurred in and out a little, as she vaguely heard voices above her.

"Secure the turtle." A strange ninja said. "Leave the girl. Master Kai wants them _both_ to be saved for later." The last thing Shini remembered before passing out was... _why is that name so.. familiar?_

**Here's the next chapter everybody!! Can't wait to see that you guys think and I hope you find it interesting. Thx!**


	5. Turtle Tracker

Chapter four: Turtle Tracker

Karai sliced in on Splinter's battle against the masked figure in which had begun this attack.

"Kai Shin! Enough of this madness!" She spat, knifing him back away from her. The stranger acrobatically flipped away from her landing a few feet from her.

"So you do remember who I am, wakai 1." A male voice said, the warrior removed his mask to reveal a steely, pleasureful glare.

"All too well." Karai sneered back. The man lost the cheekiness of his expression and re-placed his mask whipping out his weapon once more; preparing to attack. Karai snarled and dropped into a warrior stance, in anticipation of his next move.

"Sir, objective secured." A ninja reported entering through the door. The man looked from the ninja to Karai, and stood up from his battle stance.

"I believe we are finished here." He said then motioned to his ninja and they retreated out the hole in the wall.

"What?!" Raph exclaimed.

"They're leaving?" Casey asked scratching his head.

"But- why?" April asked innocently. Karai's eyes seemed to search the air in front of her, when a realization hit her.

"No!" She gasped in horror

_XXXX_

Karai slammed the door aside, panting hard, as her unconscious soldiers flooding into the, now open, doorway; the others not far behind her.

"No!!" She cursed. She glanced to her right. "Shini!!" She exclaimed hurrying over to drop by her friend's side.

"Where's Leo?" April gasped.

"Those guys must have taken him?!" Donnie hypothesized. "They must have attacked Karai and Splinter, to draw as all out and away from him, so they could kidnap him themselves." April strode off to the left and stopped when she caught a glimpse of something on the floor. She bent down to pick it up, it was one of Leo's pocket knives which he carried for sneak attacks. She gripped it tenderly and gazed up at nothing in a tenderly concerned manner.

_XXXX_

"We have to find them before they get away." She said; turning her shoulder toward them, holding the knife tightly in hand at her side where they could see it.

"They're probably long gone by now. How will we catch up to them?!" Raph wondered dubiously.

"We still gotta try." April returned firmly. "Whatever they want Leo for its not good." A groan drew attention to the two girls still on the floor.

"Shinigami!" Karai breathed and the witch girl came to.

"What- happened?" Shini wondered, as her vision slowly blurred back to normal. "Where are they?"

"Who?" Karai asked intently.

"Those- other ninjas.." the witch girl breathed. "They've got Leonardo. I could not stop them... I'm sorry!"

"It's not just your fault, we all fell into his trap." Karai told her. She then looked up away from her and out the open door. "How could I have been so stupid! I knew he'd have something like this planned."

"We cannot worry about what went wrong now. We must find out where they are taking Leonardo." Splinter reminded them. Donnie knelt by Shini's other side; and as soon as Splinter said this, he carefully scooped up Shinigami; and they all retreated back the way they'd come.

"Is there any way to track these guys?" Raph asked the group, as they burst into the ravaged throne room once more. Donnie set Shini down, leaning her against the wall on their right.

"They didn't appear to have any devices on them that I could hack." He said.

"Any idea where they'd be headed?" Raph continued, looking at Karai.

"Anywhere. There are Foot operations still working all over the city. Who knows where they could be." Karai returned intensely.

"April?" The turtle in red looked to the other girl.

"I- can't pinpoint him. He's probably unconscious." April sighed in defeat. Raph brought a fist up toward his face, tensing it with a frustrated sneer.

"We'll have to try and catch them in foot." April stated standing just inside the broken windows bravely. "We may not have another option." She then took out her grappling hook and shot it. A couple of Karai's ninja emerged from the door behind them.

"Stay and tend to Shini. We'll be back." Karai ordered, hurrying after the others.

_XXXX_

A van turned right down a busy street, the streetlights exposing the boring grey utility truck. The only indicator of interest was the characteristic Foot symbol on the back doors. Figures with white eyes and years of training, followed this vehicle as closely as they dared. One of these figures flipping up into the air, releasing a flying object. This star-shaped projectile spiraled through the air, stabbing into the door of the van. The other tips of this device latched onto the metal, laying flat against it; making it hard to visually detect. The figures on the rooftops skidded to a halt, to watch the van disappear around another corner.

"Wait dudes, why are we stopping? I thought we were going to get Leo back from those goons." Mikey protested, the solidness of his eyes changing with the blink of an eye.

"Oh we're going to, Mikey." Donnie assured him in a low voice. "That's why we've set a tracker on the van. So we can track it right to them."

"And once we find out where they're headed; we'll go in there, find Leo, and bust him out." Raph told him, explaining the plan to his, often, naive little bro.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple." Karai sighed, silently cursing herself again. "I've known Kai Shin for a long time; he's a lot like the Shredder. And he's no dummy." She peered at them from the corner of her eye. Donatello studied his T-phone screen intently.

"I'm getting a reading." He said. "Let's go!" Everyone wisped into the darkness once more.

_XXXX_

Headlights illuminated a small alley. A can clanged to the floor and a cat yowled and ran away from the light; as though it were a vampire, unable to face the light. The passenger door opened; and it's occupant stepped out of it.

"Something is not right." Master Kai announced, his one-note tone showing no evidence of emotion. He sniffed the air as though he were a hunting dog. And followed the side of the vehicle with his hand, til he reached the back and peered around the corner of it. He pried off the device and clutched it in his grasp.

"They are attempting to track us." He said, gazing up at his ninja and crushing the tracker in his iron palm.

_XXXX_

The team landed in the alley, only to find that it was empty?!

"What?! How did they get away?!" Casey complained.

"Relax guys this is just a minor bump in the road, we'll find them." Donnie assured them in a laid-back manner.

"And how are you so sure?" Raph questioned, gesturing to him with his Sai still in his hand.

"Because of latest invention." The brainy turtle in purple replied, cheekily flicking the device in his hand back and forth. "I used some microscopic tracking beacons in my multi-shock shurikan to give us a almost undetectable tracking device that is near impossible to remove. So we still have something to go on. Lets go!" Donnie leapt onto the fire escape to continue pursuit of the vehicle; the team looking to one another before following suit.

_XXXX_

A ringing pulled him back into the real world, and the gentle, downcast light from above revealed nothing of his whereabouts. He lightly groaned as the blurr of his vision cleared; _where was he? How much time had passed? Where were his team?_ He attempted to move, but tension was all that resulted. Leo dropped his eyes to find that he had been restrained, and began to struggle; hoping to break free. His memory was fuzzy, and seemed out of reach; yet remnants still came to nip at him. As he continued to struggle, he peered around into the darkness, squinting to see better; but to no avail. Everything was too dark for him to make anything out in the intense blackness. Suddenly the sound of metal creaking, sounded as the door screamed due to being opened. And he vaguely detected the motion from it, from where he was; hastening the panic in his heart at this moment.

**Here's the next chapter everybody!! Hope you're still enjoying this, and don't worry, there is plenty more yet to come!! Can't wait to hear your thoughts!! Thx!!!**


	6. Race Against Time

Chapter five: Race Against Time

"I can't believe I let this happen!" Karai vocalized, as the team sported various moves over the same rooftops. "I led them right to us!" She rolled into a somersault and landed a one-legged kneel.

"We can't worry about that now." April told her, appearing on a rooftop machine. "We just need to get him back." Donnie stopped at the edge of a rooftop overlooking an "T" intersection, as the van turned left into a gated building right in front of the intersection. The van, then, went straight into the first garage-like door, which opened and closed behind it.

"Ok, we know where we have to go." The intelligent turtle stated. "Let's get back to the the Lair. We need to figure this out."

"What?! What's there to figure out?" Raph questioned. "We know where Leo is, let's get in there and save him. End of story!" The hot-headed turtle in red gestured with his Sai toward the building in question.

"Because _Raph_." Donnie emphasized dryly. "We don't know anything about this place or who we're dealing with. We need more information before we can make any sort of rescue plan."

"At least we know where Leo is now." April reminded them optimistically.

"Going into a fighting without knowing some of the facts first, can cause catastrophic results; and prohibit our success." Splinter remarked wisely, gesturing this his pointer figure in the air; with the other hand folded behind his back. "Come let us go." Then he retreated back the way they'd come, followed by the others. Raph turned to watch them go, peered back over his shoulder; and followed after a heavy sigh.

_XXXX_

"Welcome young turtle man." A Japanese voice told him, the figure leaning against something in the shadows. The stranger shifted his weight off of it and strode forward. A hand lunging toward him and slammed into the wood paneling next to Leo's head; the stranger glaring down at him menacingly.

"Let's begin." He sneered, abruptly turning away from him. Since his back was now turned, a flap of fabric like a cape whipped around with him. And from either side of him, two other figures approached him holding things with wires in their hands as they approached him. A machine or two being wheeled in on screeching wheels, and creaking metal frames. Leo's eyes developed a major sense of fear as to what was about to proceed. And he squirmed against the restraints in a frantic attempt to escape once more, the figures in the room closing in on him to begin their work.

_XXXX_

"Ok, the building they've taken Leo to, is an abandoned auto shop." Donatello explained, tapping at his laptop and reading the information on the screen. "The upper levels were set up for residential units, while the bottom level was meant for the business itself. But I believe it's been closed down for years."

"The perfect place to hide a mutant." Raph concluded aloud.

"So what does this guy plan to do with Leo now that he has him." April chimed in, voicing the concern that had been unspoken until this point.

"Whatever it is, it can't be good." Karai guessed. "We need to do something; and soon." She spoke with utmost urgency and determination, slamming a fist into her hand. "Donatello, what's the building like? Any way we can narrow down his exact location inside the building?"

"First let's talk about who we're dealing with." Raph put in, bracing his palms to the kitchen island. "Spit it out, Princess, who the heck are these guys?!"

"Raphael! Teishi!" Splinter commanded sharply, he then turned to Karai. "Miwa, Raphael makes a valid point. We must know who we're are dealing with as well as the place in which we are going to fight them." Karai straightened her neck to look directly down shamefully; closing her eyes for a moment.

"His name is Kai Shin. We was another one of the Shredder's prized students." The kunoichi began. "Like Bradford, he, too, had immense skill. And with time, gained a high rank as one of Shredders elite. Since the Shredder's gone missing; he's no doubt here to take control of the Foot operations around the city. And since Leo, Shinigami, and I had been targeting and attacking these facilities. He must be doing what the Shredder taught him to do to any enemies... eradicate them."

"But then... why didn't he do it?" April pointed out. "I mean he had the chance. And if he wants all three of you dead, why not take out Shinigami with him when they were still in the dungeon?"

"I don't know." Karai responded a bit intensely. "Maybe he has something else planned for us. Maybe he thinks Leo has something he wants."

"Like what?" Donnie shrugged innocently. Karai's expression softened thoughtfully, and unfortunate look accompanying it.

"I don't know." She sighed in defeat. "But that's why we need to move, before they do do something."

"So, tell us more about this..._Kai Shin_." Donatello proceeded.

"He's a very strategic man, and has the skills to go with it." Karai explained. "I remember him being a near-even match for Shredder. But he also wouldn't even dare go against him; in any case."

"Then we must be diligent when encountering him." Splinter guessed.

"Hopefully, we won't have to." Donnie corrected. "Maybe if we get in and find Leo with our best ninja stealth, we won't have to fight him."

"Not Kai, He's too smart for that." Karai insisted. "He'll see us coming a mile away, no matter how stealthy we are."

"Well aren't you the bearer of bad news." Raph vocalized sarcastically, only earning him an elbow in his side from April.

"I hate to say it, but I think the best we can do and sneak in, search for Leo and hope they don't catch us." Karai admitted.

"We've gotta have a better plan than that, dudes!" Mikey cried. "Leo could be in big trouble if we screw this up!"

"Mikey's actually got a point." April agreed. "If we mess this up, Leo could be in more trouble than before."

"Then we must hurry!" Splinter decided intensely.

"He's right." Donnie agreed, standing up. "Let's go!"

"Hold up, D." April said, stopping him in his tracks. "We need more information before we dive into this fight."

_XXXX_

Leo grimaced as another shock surged through his body, he pulled against the restraints; but only received more pain. By now, his wrists burned with the nipping pain of the leather, which feasted upon his flesh. He wanted to escape, but unfortunately did not possess the strength to escape these shackles. His energy dwindled with very passing second; every shock.. every blow. His head hung as his eyes stared blankly at the floor, barely able to focus due to the extensive abuse he'd been enduring at the hands of his captors. The passage of time meant nothing to him, that knowledge had slipped away from him long ago; or so it seemed. The only thing that remained on his mind now, was the desperate yearn for someone to rescue him;... and for the pain to cease.

"I'll ask again..." Kai sneered. "What do you know of the Shredder's whereabouts!" When Leo did not answer, Shin straightened his back in a silent command, that earned the turtle another agonizing shock. "I know you have allied yourself with the former daughter of the Foot. Therefore I am certain that you know something of what happens to him. Tell me now!!"

"I.. don't- know." Leo breathed, struggling to look up at him. "That's something we'd all like to know." Leo let out another cry of excruciating pain as he was shocked again. Shin's brow remained tense for the duration of this shock, but softened as soon as it ended.

"I believe you..." Kai Shin said, still standing squarely facing him with his hands folded behind his back at a short distance from the weakened turtle. "But I am also not through with you... yet." A couple more technicians approached as Shin continued. "You have much more to offer me... than you could imagine." As he was saying this, the two new technicians that showed up adjusted the paneling that he was secured to, so that it was horizontal like a bed. The next thing he knew, he felt a stick his upper arm that sent shivers up and down his spine. Little did he know, that this one thing would now start something much bigger that he ever could have guessed.

_XXXX_

The darkness of his stripes seemed to make the room appear a lot darker. His mere presence casted an unmistakable shadow over the entire atmosphere as he entered. His hand dropped to the floor in the usual compose kneel that he, and many who served Him, had been trained to do.

"Master Shredder, everything is nearly in order." Tiger Claw reported looking up to his wounded master.

"*groan* Good." Shredder responded hoarsely. "Splinter.. and those turtles... will.. finally be eliminated." Tiger claw rose.

"We have started to re-built the damaged facilities that Karai and her two friends have attacked, but we have much to do before we are fully operational again, master." The tiger mutant told him.

"Perhaps." Shredder croaked. "But my recovery.. is starting to improve. I.. shall finally be rid of this torturous suffering; and finally be able to squish the life out of that vile rat and his meddlesome turtles; once and for all!" The Shredder's increased agitation and distaste for the ones in which he spoke, began a coughing spell that ripped at his chest; and he wheezed and groaned coming out of it.

**What is up everybody!!! Hope you're enjoying this story and I can't wait to see what you think of what's to come. Thx!!!**


	7. Matters Of The Mind

Chapter six: Matters Of The Mind

Leo gasped as another stick burned his flesh, he felt liked they'd been at this for hours; and silently begged for it to end. Technicians busied themselves all around him; connecting tubes, taking samples. Probes had been taped to his body earning them readings of all different types. His right arm was laid out perpendicular to his body, an IV tube infusing him with a glowing blue substance; one that made him feel a bit drowsy and distant.

"These readings..." he heard one of the techs say. "They're off the charts! I've never seen anything like it?!" Leo panned his blurring vision to his right, finding two figures standing toward the back corner of the room the stranger's back to him; Kai Shin just beyond him.

"Anything useful." Kai asked, his arms crossed stoically.

"Possibly, but this information is incredible!" The other man went on. "There is so much potential here! I bet this information will be most helpful to.. _Him_."

"Excellent, but of course we still must find Him. But first we must eradicate some... distractions. And I believe we've just found a means of achieving this. Do what you must! I want them taken out sooner rather than later." With this last command, Kai swiveled on his heel and exited. And the stranger turned back to Leo, approaching the table to his side.

"Alright mister turtle..." He said in an off sounding tone. Leo's vision still wandering in and out. "Let's fix you right up... shall we?" After just barely hearing this, he could not stay awake any longer; and darkness fell upon him.

_XXXX_

_Leo stood in New York City. It was likely the middle of the night; and the moon was fully out, acting as the only light in the world besides the street lights. He stood there in a sudden onset of confusion. How was he here? What had brought him here? How did he end up here, when, moments ago, he was a prisoner of people he did not know? Suddenly a light drew his eyes up._

_"The sun?!" Leo gasped. "But what is it doing in the night sky? The moon is already out?" Just then a stabbing pain in his right arm erupted, making him grimace grabbing it intensely. The black sky then opened up in the form of giant cracks glowing that same golden light of the sun. These cracks lengthened in seconds, like how the breaking of stone walls would occur; the glow intensifying as they went. The light from these cracks surged toward him in bright, shiny beams. They hit him straight on, swirling around him in a tornado sort of fashion; forming a ball of high-powered energy. Leo cried out as his eyes became solid white, and his head throbbed causing him to bring his hands up to it; attempting to fight off the influence that was attacking his mind. He grimaced again as the lights only brightened, and he was bathed in a white burst!..._

_XXXX_

"Anything?" April asked glancing up at Donnie from the laptop. Donnie tapped at the keyboard of his lab computer and sighed lowering his head.

"No." He admitted sadly, dropping his shoulders.

"We can't give up." April told him. "Leo needs us. We have to get him back." Donnie turned to meet her gaze, and managed a slight smile. Then the two went back to their work.

_XXXX_

The shackles released him and Leo dropped to his knees. His head hung, his shoulders loose; and his arms sagging at his sides.

"Rise." Kai commanded. There was a slight hesitation, but the turtle finally obeyed. His head shifted up, his solid eyes gazing at him with a determinedly, distant glare. "Now go." Shin ordered. "Find the ones whom are our enemies... and taken the out!" The mutant then lunged forward passed him, and silently disappeared from the room; almost like magic.

_XXXX_

"Ugh, this place doesn't seem to have any sort of blue prints or schematics, or anything that'll tell us what's in there." Donnie articulated, his frustration becoming more and more evident.

"Maybe there aren't any." April guessed. "Maybe they didn't make a digital copy. I mean, this building is kind of old. They probably didn't have the technology to do it."

"Hm, maybe." Donnie admitted, bracing his elbows on the table, to place his interlocking hands in front of his face again. "But then how are we gonna get an idea of what the place is like, without a map of some kind to help us navigate the building?"

"Maybe this is one of those times, where we're just gonna have to go in blind." April sighed, leaning on the chair that the turtle was sitting on and placing a hand on his shoulder.

_XXXX_

"Ok, so it looks like we're gonna have to go in without a floor plan." Donnie declared, coming out of his lab.

"So what we're just gonna bust in and searched the building til we find him?" Raph questioned. "Some plan, Don." The turtle crossed his arms in the way he usually did with this last statement.

"I don't think we have a choice, Raph." Donnie returned dryly. "But we have to do something. Who knows what they'll do to him if we don't." The team looked up at the sound of the turnstile moving, and everyone was shocked to see.

"Leo?!" The turtle in blue didn't even look up, nor did he speak. Raph rose to his feet immediately.

"You're back! Thank goodness!" April sighed coming closer to him. "Are you alright?" Leo still didn't speak, instead he put his arms one side and swung them; releasing stars that April had to duck away from. "Leo?!" She cried, when she straightened up again. Leo reached up slowly and flicked out one of his blades. He only stood there a second longer before he lunged forward, leaping into the center of the lowered seating area slicing down on Raph; who barely managed to catch his blade with his Sai.

"Raph!" Mikey yelled, as the team all rushed forward. Leo looked up and withdrew in an acrobatic flipping sequence, taking out his other blade when he landed.

"What the heck, man?!" Raph snapped, recovering himself. Leo open his eyes to glare at them, everyone suddenly shocked by the icy, unrecognizable look in them. Leo came again attacking anyone and everyone he came into contact with. Leo caught Mikey's kasurigama chain around his katanas and kicked his brother's chest; knocking him to the ground. Releasing the chain and re-sheathing one blade, he raised the other for the final blow; which was stopped by Karai.

"What are you doing, Leo?!" She questioned. "This isn't like you?!" Her blazing eyes burned into his solid, hollow, and emotionless ones. The turtle in blue threw her blade off of his and came at her again.

"This doesn't make any sense." April remarked, meeting up with Splinter as Donnie helped Mikey up. "Why is he attacking us?" Leo relentlessly attacked, Karai doing everything she could to keep up with him.

"I fear this may be a result of Kai Shin's imprisonment." Splinter guessed definitively.

"What do you mean by that, Sensei?" Donnie asked, holding his Bo staff across his body.

"I fear they have done something to him.. to make him attack us." Splinter sighed regretfully.

"Then what do we do?" April asked, they had to scatter as Leo came down on the with both blades.

"We can take him!" Raph said, holding his Sai ready for battle.

"We cannot harm him. He is still your brother." Splinter reminded them.

"I'll see if I can get through to him." April offered. "But I'll need some time."

"Do what you must." Splinter encouraged, his immense hearing helped him catch the sound of an attack, which he blocked with his cane. As Leo was busy fighting Splinter, April stood there in silence. Closing her eyes, she focused deeply, summoning any and all power to channel together. She placed her hands to her head and mentally reached out to the turtle in blue. Calling his name in her mind, hoping to call him back from wherever his mind had been trapped. _You are not a servant of the Foot! You are the leader of your own team! _Her mind yelled, and with one final push, as bright yellow rings of mental energy surged from her head onto Leo. Feeling something shift, the turtle stopped attacking and grimaced, staggering back from Splinter. The turtle dropped his swords in an instant and sank to his knees; before completely falling flat on the floor, face down. The energy died down and they all raced forward, circling around him anxiously.

"Did it work?" Casey asked, try to get a look at the turtle's face.

"I'm pretty sure we'll know in a minute." Raph responded hotly, a bit annoyed by the teen's comment. Leo stirred and groaned coming out of it, his vision began to blur back to normal and an unmistakable throb hung over his head; like he'd been bashed in the head one too many times. He slowly shifted his hands up to push himself up off the ground. He only got to all fours before a dizziness set in and he froze, in the hopes of it subsiding. When he had recovered a little, he sat back on his ankles; his head still hung to recover some more.

"Leo?" A warm hand on his shoulder made him jump, suddenly looking up he locked eyes with a worried April.

"A- April?" The turtle gasped. The girl was so relieved, she lurched forward to embrace him. This act took him by surprise, but after a brief moment of confusion and shock; he returned the embrace.

"We're so glad you're safe." April said, as they broke apart. Her hand slowly sliding down his arms.

"I'm glad to be back to..ah!" Leo grimaced and grabbed his right arm.

"Sorry." April apologized, knowing she must have touched tender wound. Donnie knelt down to remove Leo's hand, to get a look at his upper arm.

"We need to take care of this right away." The brainy turtle said, looking back at the group.

_XXXX_

Leo grunted at the pounding in his head, as he was laid down in Donnie's lab. April set an ice pack over his head and shifted back a little.

"So like.. what happened to you out there?" Casey spoke up cautiously.

"More importantly, what did Shin do to you." Karai corrected, a bit of anger clearly ringing in her tone; directed toward the turtle's _former _captor.

"Ugh, where do I start?" Leo groaned, holding the ice pack to his forehead. "There was so much... so much action.. so many people... My head... it- it's all kinda fuzzy." Donnie took Leo's arm in his hand to inspect the bumps from earlier; and noticed something about them.

"Needles." He mumbled to himself. "Were you being-... experimented on?" He asked looking up.

"I don't know,.. maybe? I can't- seem to recall anything in vivid detail." Leo responded dryly. He sat up to hang his head forward weakly. "It's all just- ah!" An intense pressure suddenly hit him, like something was attacking his mind. And he grasped it intensely; desperately waiting for it to stop. Thankfully his silent wish was granted to him, as the pressure finally ceased.

**Hey what's up, everybody?! This chapter and several others like it have been super fun to write! Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did writing them. Thx!!**


	8. Aftershocks!

Chapter seven: Aftershocks!

"What the heck was that?!" Raph asked, his tone quickening as he spoke. Leo plopped back down against the table; his breaths sounding more like gasps, as he recovered once more.

"What ever they did to him it stills seems to be affecting him." April guessed, her hands on his shoulder and hand.

"And we need to find out what." Donnie added decisively. "But for now, I guess we should let him rest for a while."

"No!" Leo gasped, pushing their hands away to sit up again. "We've gotta stop those guys, and get them out of the city."

"You are going nowhere, Leonardo!" Splinter interjected firmly. "You have been through enough! At the moment, you must rest and heal; we will deal with this.. _Kai Shin_, when you recover."

"But Sensei- by then,.. it'll be too late. He works for the Shredder. He's.. probably here to get his operations back up and running, since Karai and I took them down." Leo protested, recollecting their undercover escapades.

"I am not going to risk your safety again!" Splinter exclaimed sharply. "You are too precious to me, my son." The rat master's demeanor softened. "Kai Shin will be stopped, but not right now."

"But Sensei!-"

"Enough!" Splinter interrupted. "It is not up for discussion. Remember what I have always taught you, my son. All wounds must heal before before engaging in battle with the enemy." The young turtle in blue opened his mouth to speak, but realized he had nothing to say to validate the latter; and stopped. Leo relaxed his body a little; his shoulders dropping in defeat. Donnie took his arm and began to wrap it; after tending to the needle wounds.

_XXXX_

Leo lay on the floor; asleep, his shell facing them. Everyone turned their attention from him to each other.

"So.. why is he still out here again?" Raph questioned the group.

"I wanna keep an eye on him." Donatello replied. "I'm worried about what that _Kai Shin_ did to him."

"He's right to be concerned, you know." Karai spoke up. "There's no telling what that man did to him. I mean, he just sent him here to destroy us." She gestured to Leo in saying this. They all looked at Leo again, as he shifted himself to face them; remaining asleep.

"He looks fine now." Mikey observed cocking his head slightly.

"So what'do wanna do? Camp out here all night with him?" Raph questioned again, shooting Donnie a distasteful look.

"I guess I was just thinking we could keep him out here while we were still awake." The brainy turtle ventured. "But I guess we shouldn't move him when we all go to bed."

"No, we will leave him alone." Splinter confirmed, their gaze remaining on the motionless turtle. "There is no reason to mess with him now. Let him sleep. He should be fine out here for tonight." April strode over, to flap a blanket up over Leo; and returned to watching their tv.

_XXXX_

Donnie stared over at Leo, from the stairs leading to their bedrooms. April and Casey and said their goodbyes and left for home, and Raph and Mikey had already gone off to bed. Splinter left them to meditate in the dojo long before now, and remained so. All that remained was his own thoughts, and concerns. After what seemed like an eternity of staring at his sleeping brother, he shook it off and pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind, and proceeded to his room for bed.

_XXXX_

_Leo's eyes opened with a gasp, as though a cold wind had suddenly hit him. Recovering from this, he looked about him. Nothing but darkness welcomed him; though somehow he didn't feel quite as safe here as he once did. He couldn't help but feel a bit on edge, a nagging feeling grabbed a hold of him... like he wasn't alone. Yet when he searched for someone, no one was there. He took a step, which turned into a walk, which turned into a jog which turned into a run. Pretty soon he was sprinting headlong across the dark abyss; not sure where he was going, or what he was running from. Yet the nagging fear become a violent urge to run; whispering in his ear that.. **it** was coming. What **it** was;.. was beyond him. And his mind even thought this, yet he couldn't stop himself... until something else did. Leo finally stopped short staring at... 'himself?!' Another version of himself stood before him, his head lowered. His mask was black; as was the rest of his attire. In the dim light, he noticed jagged gashes and bruises; dirt smeared and plastered against his pale skin. His double finally looked up with solid white eyes, a blank icy glare upon his face. Suddenly from the darkness behind him appeared his former captor; who placed a hand on the double's shoulder. The masked stranger declared something in Japanese... "You are mine!" Leo's heart skipped a beat, and his blood ran cold. Suddenly his evil twin savagely lunged toward him with his blade in hand. Leo crossed his arms in front of his face, bracing for the attack..._

Leo gasped, thrusting himself upright; nearly choking on his own breaths. He gazed about in his panicked daze, only to realize that he was fine. And that he was right where the team had left him, in the main living area of the Lair. Leo continued to breath a bit heavily to calm himself down, as he slowly laid back down; lying on his side and tucking his hands under his head. The young leader eventually closed his eyes and focused on sleep once more, to which he was finally rewarded.

_XXXX_

Leonardo's eyes slowly blinked open again, all that welcomed him was the ceiling and the muffled noises of combat. Panning his head to the left, he caught glimpses of his brothers' shadows dancing across the thinly papered walls of the dojo. Looking straight up again, he sighed and pulled himself upright; hunching over at the pounding in his head.

"Leo?" April's voice caught his attention and he jumped slightly. He looked up just in time to see her and Casey just arriving.

"Oh, hey April." Leonardo greeted, shifting himself onto his knees in his usual kneel. He pushed one leg up and stood up, a wave of dizziness immediately catching him off guard.

"Leo, -easy!" April cried, catching him before he could fall. "You need to relax and rest for a while." She told him, holding his arm over her shoulder. She then began to lead him toward the dojo; having heard the practice battle herself as they'd entered.

Master Splinter caught movement out of the corner of his eye, and diverted his attention towards it; and away from his other sons' sparring practice.

"Leonardo." He breathed upon seeing him, going to them. The three other turtles stopped to look as well. Their faces lit up with a bit of surprise and concern at the sight of him.

"Leo?!" Mikey gasped.

"I'm fine." The turtle leader insisted, shifting his weight off of April and dragging his arm away from her. But as soon as he was standing on his own, the pounding became so disorienting that he dropped to one knee; his head spinning. April went down next to him, and Donnie helped drag him over to the wall to lay him back against it.

"My son, you have been weakened by whatever that man may have done to you. You must rest a little longer so you can heal." Splinter told him.

"-I'll be fine, we- still have to find-.." Leo gasped trailing off due to the breathless nature of his tone.

"Kai Shin?" April finished for him. "We know, but we can't risk you getting hurt."

"What are talking about? He's already hurt." Raph cut in gesturing to Leo.

"Which is exactly the point." Donnie defended. "He probably can't even see straight. The experiments they may have done to him, are messing with his head. And I'm afraid it'll take awhile for that to fully go away."

_XXXX_

"Doctor Chaplin, what is the status of our little science experiment." Kai Shin asked in a presumptuous tone.

"Well, Master Shin, it's incredible!" The head scientist raved, studying his work, which was spread across the table he sat at. "The mutated DNA of our test subject is amazing! I've never seen such incredible science fiction and biology meld in such a perfect way!"

"So you think it could be useful to us?" Shin replied, intrigued.

"Yes, sir!" Chaplin returned brightly. "It is a work of beauty! And with that martial arts training, he would be the perfect warrior for your army, Kai San."

"Well, then once his work is completed, I believe you have more work to do." Shin said, turning to walk away; hands still folded neatly behind him back, as he exited the room.

**Hey fans, how's it going?! This chapter was kind of interesting, even for me. Hope you guys like it!! Thx!!!**


	9. Round Two

Chapter eight: Round Two

A tiny source of light searched Leo's ocean blue eyes. He grunted and flinched at the light when it came too close. Blinking a couple of times the light fled, and he lifted his hands to rub his eyes.

"Well they seem tired, but you seem to be doing fine." Donnie told him.

"Maybe you're just still recovering from the stress of the experimentation." April guessed.

"Yeah, maybe." Leo thought. At that moment, though, an intense pressure ensued upon him, and he saw visions of himself in an all-out attack against the masked stranger! Leo shot upright out of it, breathing in gasps as though he'd just woken up from a bad dream.

"Leo!" April placed her hands on his arm, as if to stabilize him. The ninja turtle laid back and sighed; closing his eyes to wait for the spinning to stop.

"This will take time to heal." Splinter observed, stroking his thin beard inquisitively.

"A lot of time from the look of it." Donnie concurred. Leo's pupils suddenly flickered in and out, as he grabbed his head with a groan. Donnie shifted forward to place a hand on his arm.

"What's going on, Donnie?" Casey wondered openly.

"He must still be experiencing the effects of the experiments." The brainy turtle in purple hypothesized. "Maybe taking a sample of your blood'll shed some light on what's really going on." He took out a needle and syringe and took the sample he wanted.

_XXXX_

Leo lay in the main living area, on the benches of the lowered seating area; a pillow under his head and his hands draped over himself as he lay there. Though he looked to be asleep, he still fidgeted very subtly from time to time; almost like muscle tremors of some kind. April stood peering around the storm doors of Donnie's lab watching him. Then turned and headed back in to join the rest of the team at the counter, where Donnie was finishing up his analysis.

"Ok, one last thing..." Donnie narrated, as he dropped a couple drops from the sample onto a little gauze pad. The purple solution, turned green upon hitting the circular white pad, much to their surprise. Donatello, seeming unphased by this, slid the sample under his microscope to take a look.

"This like nothing I've ever seen before." The intelligent turtle breathed.

"What is it Donnie?" April asked, drawing ever so slightly closer.

"Leo was been infected with some kind of neurotoxin that alters his mental status, and masks his personality and memory." Donnie explained simply.

"So... what does that mean?" Raph groaned in exasperation.

"Yeah, dude." Mikey put in sassily. "You had us at infected."

_XXXX_

Leo fidgeted some more; groaning like he was experiencing a bad dream, he put his hands to his head. The fidgeting turned to shaking, as his eyes opened with a gasping breath; appearing completely white.

_XXXX_

"Basically he's been poisoned into thinking we're his enemy." Donnie returned. "The poison isn't lethal and won't kill him; but it fools his brain into thinking we're a threat. Essentially he's been turned into some kind of mindless assassin." A bang halted their conversation and they looked toward the door. Leo was standing there with one blade drawn, the arm that held it leaning against the storm door; his head lowered.

"Leo?" Donnie addressed his brother with surprise and a hint of suspicion. Leo looked up quickly and scowled at him, with his solid white eyes, leaving the door in a dead sprint towards him. Everyone scattered at Donnie blocked a couple blows from his brother in blue and landed one of his own sending him tumbling back a bit.

"That the heck is going on?!?!" Raph cried, coming out of back hand spring.

"I think it's happening again!" Donnie concluded.

"Dude! Snap out of it, man!" Casey cried, readying his hockey stick to attack.

"He's not gonna hear you. The toxin has him completely seduced." Donatello told him, as April and Splinter evaded Leo's attacks. "We have immobilize him til he calms down again."

"Great idea, D!" Mikey called happily, then thought for a second. "How do we do that?"

"Use your kasurigama chain, Mikey!" Donnie replied, pointing to his brother's weapon.

"Oh right!" The silly turtle in orange realized. Extending the chain out, he lunged forward toward Leo; tossing it in his direction. Unfortunately for him, though, Leo adjusted and caught the chain with his blades; pulling Mikey forward and launching him right passed him, his blades extended to his left. Leo then straightened up, turn his head to the left and took off out the door.

"Quick! We've gotta go after him!" Donnie cried, waving them over to the garage door.

"Where's he going?!" Raph cried.

"Who knows where." April put in. "That's why we've gotta catch him before he hurts someone,.. or himself."

"Then let us hurry!!" Splinter decided.

_XXXX_

The doors slid aside, and the slim figure in a black cape entered; accompanied by two foot ninja.

"Shini, how are feeling?" Karai asked from her throne, thrilled to see her friend enter.

"I'm feeling much better." The witch girl smiled back. But that smile soon faded, as she dropped her gaze away from her. "I'm sorry I could not stop them from taking Leonardo. I should have known better than that."

"Not just your fault, Shini." Karai told her. "I made a huge mistake in bringing him here in the first place. At least, now, he's home and safe."

"Yes, but for how long?" Shinigami wondered openly. "Kai Shin must have a better plan than this." The two thought in silence for a few moments, pondering this question carefully. When something above her caught Shini's eye, and she looked up in shock; Karai turning to follow her gaze, also unable to hold back a gasping breath of surprise. All that could be seen was a silhouette of a figure they recognized instantly, and the eyes also gave him away as clear as day would have.

"Leo?" Karai asked. The turtle simply leapt down with a off-tone battle cry; slicing down on them, to which they had to split off to avoid the blow.

"He's doing it again." Karai warned, after rolling out of her somersault. Shinigami screeched to a halt in the opposite direction.

"But why is he attacking us?" She asked dodging a slice from the deranged turtle.

"He's probably supposed to." Karai reasoned. "Kai Shin may have wanted it that way as part of his petty revenge scheme." Karai withdrew in time to catch Leo's blades with her own, and go at it in battle with him. The hostility in his attacks stung her in the heart, as she fought to keep him from _actually_ hurting her.

"Leonardo! Stop this!" Splinter's intense voice made Leo freeze where he was, then turn to look up at him. He and the rest of the team stood where he once did, the circular stained-glass window behind them. Leo's eyes narrowed and he sprinted towards them. The team ninja-leaping to scatter, as Splinter caught his attack. Leo ended up being sent back down again and recovered himself mid-air; landing on his feet. He sneered and began another approach. Splinter, now on the ground in front of the throne at the bottom of the steps, felt for his blade in anticipation. Leo ducked when Splinter swung, then turned his attention on his brothers. He lunged at Raph and performed a slicing combination that they'd seen many times before. Raph evaded easily, and stabbed at him like they were sparring. But the more they went back and forth he the more violent and ruthless Leo seemed to get.

"Dude! What's your problem?! Snap out of it!!" Raph cried, becoming frustrated. He managed to deliver a palm hand strike to the side of Leo's head; and the turtle in blue stumbled back in a disoriented groan, his hands holding his head and he dropped to his knees. "Oh no, Leo!!" Raph cried, softening up immediately. Not even thinking he rushed to his brothers side, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"*groan* Raph? -What happened?" Leo asked, looking up slowly. Raph sighed with relief, a wave of thankfulness washing over him.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"-I think so... other than this small headache." The leader in blue replied, a hand still to his head. Raph took his other arm and helped him up. Leo nearly fell backwards, but managed to steady himself as he stood up. He kept his hand on Raph's shoulder to help stabilize himself; when he realized who was standing there with them.

"Karai?" Leo noticed. Then looked up, realized where he was. "What are we doing here?" He asked in surprise. Suddenly a pressure on his head, slammed him and he saw glimpses of his vicious attack. He came out of it again with a shock that nearly knocked him over again; the thought of what he had done, yet didn't remember, took his breath away. "Wha-... What have I done?" He gasped, stepping back from them.

"My son, do not withdraw yourself from us." Splinter told him gently. "We are your family, and we want to help you. Please, come back to the Lair. Let us figure out what is going on, so we can fix it." The mutant turtle in blue stood there; hesitating.

"I can't keep doing this." He said finally, then dropped a smoke bomb and disappeared.

"Aww, man! Where's he going now?!" Casey complained, racing through the cloud and out the door.

_XXXX_

Everyone burst into the old lab below street level, their guard lowering as they began to slowly search the place. Raphael stepped in front of another glass box and peered into it.

"Leo?" He was shocked to see his brother inside the box, sitting against the wall with his arms draped over his knees; facing away from them. "What are you doing, come on out here." Raph told him, pressing his hands to the glass.

"No." Was all that came back.

"Let Donnie run some more tests on you." April coaxed. "Maybe we can figure out a way to reverse it."

"Don't you guys get it?!" Leo questioned intensely. He stood up to face them squarely. "I'm too dangerous for anyone to be around. No one even knows when I'm gonna-..." Leo grimaced mid-sentence, grabbing his head again. Reverting back to his enraged state he attacked the glass, as though to break through it. Raph removed his hands from the glass, as everyone withdrew a little from the attack; despite knowing that it wouldn't reach them.

**Hey guys!! Another chapter! Can't wait to see what you guys think!! And I'll see you next week! Thx!!!**


	10. Head Battle

Chapter nine: Head Battle

They later returned to find him leaning against the wall again with his right knee up and the other leg laid out in front of him. His right arm rested on his knee; and the turtle's face was turned away from them again. April stepped forward to place her hands to the glass.

"Leo?" The turtle didn't even seem to acknowledge her voice. April closed her eyes and mentally reached out to him._ Leo, you can do this! You can let us help you!_

_Not without hurting someone_. His mind replied, seeming unaware that she could hear him.

_It's a risk, but at least we can start figuring out how to fix it. _April replied non-vocally. Leo suddenly turned around to look at her, surprised. _I'm psychic remember. _She told him, answering his unasked question.

_Right, but do you really have pick my brain with it._ Leo returned dryly.

_If that's what it takes_. April returned simply. By now Leo was standing there, staring at her. The turtle leader stood there a moment longer, then hesitantly strode forward. Leo stood directly opposite her for a moment, their eyes being their communicator. Raph stepped forward; but Donnie, understanding what was happening, put an arm in his way.

_I'm not gonna let myself slip away only to destroy the one thing that actually matters to me_. Leo reinforced.

_That's why we're here_. April returned._ We have ways of dealing with this without that happening_.

_You mean without me tearing you apart limb from limb?_ Though this was in their heads April could sense the dry frustration of his statement.

_It's not your fault._ April tried to reassure him. _You can't control it. It's a toxin in your blood that's making you do it, it's messing with your head_.

_Exactly, which means I'm more prone to hurt someone, because I can't control it_. Leo could have sworn his thoughts were becoming loud enough that everyone could hear; but clearly they couldn't. Karai touched a button on the control panel subtly, almost as to conceal this act. The glass lifted away, and no longer separated them from Leo.

_Don't let this ruin your lif_e. April reinforced. _You can get past this... just let us help you_. Leo still stood their in silence. After what seemed like an eternity, Leo took a couple steps forward. By the second step though, a flash in the back of his mind reminded him of what had happened to him; and he froze from the shock. He blinked away the memory and shook his head, he sneered in frustration.

"I'm done with this!" He decided fiercely. He took out his grappling hook and shot it straight up. He flew up as it retracted and leapt for the door out of the lab.

"What did you say to him?!" Raph cried, as they made chase.

"How did you?-"

"We knew you were talking to him, by the way you were staring at each other." Donatello interjected her response. They arrived in the throne room just in time to watch the Shell-Razor speed off down the road into the night.

"We have to stop him!" Karai shouted urgently. They retreated out the door and piled into the Party Wagon.

"Good thing we brought both vehicles." Raph mumbled dryly, starting the engine. The Party wagon roared to life and tore after the Shell-Razor.

_XXXX_

Leo, in a boiling rage pressed the pedal harder, plunging the Shell-Razor faster through the quiet city. He shifted gears and stomped the pedal impatiently. His pupils flickered in and out, like some madman; his mind beginning to mess with him once again. He realized that he somehow knew where he was going, but at the same time didn't. He approached a gate at an intersection that, somehow, he recognized; accelerating harder. The battering ram burst through the gate, totally blowing it out of the way, and the Shell-Razor screeched to a halt. The side door opened and Leo stood there, his head hung and a hand on the door. He looked up quickly and thrust himself forward.

_XXXX_

The rest of the team flipped in varying movements to the ground landing together in a group behind Splinter. The rat master looked left then right, and then forward.

"It looks like your guess was right, D!" Mikey breathed, thrusting his hands on his brothers shoulder, weighing on him to lift his gaze up from the busted gate.

"Come on!" April cried, racing toward it; soon followed by the others.

_XXXX_

Kai Shin remained at his desk, his hands folded before his lips, and his eyes closed. Though he was facing the window at the moment, he didn't once open them to look out of it.

He could almost feel the presence behind him; as a darkened silhouette stood there with tense fists.

"You have returned." Kai said. He stood up and turned, as Leo drew a katana; holding it straight out from his side. Leo's solid eyes flared and he lunged forward. Kai waited, and didn't act til a split second before the turtle reached him. Leo's eyes changed back to his blue pupils, shocked by the sudden blade that caught his own. Kai looked down on him and scowled, and he found himself on the floor in minutes; bashing the wall before hitting the ground. He began to push himself up and another blow to his back slammed him into the floor again. A disorienting dizziness came over him, and his vision split a little seeing the many padded feet before him.

No! I'm not gonna let this happen again! He thought to himself, he clenched his eyes closed; focusing. Master Kai stepped closer ever so slightly. Leo's eyes popped open and he spun himself up, grabbing his other blade to use both simultaneously. The two went at it in a battle of blades, and Kai landed a kick to his chest that shattered the door from which he'd come in; sending him right through it, into another wall. Throwing projectiles hurled toward him, and Leo had to skillfully dodge them; one managing to clip his right shoulder. The mutant put a hand to it, and lifted it immediately to inspect the blood that came from it; before looking up just in time to see an attack coming his way. He ducked away from Kai Shin's flying kick attack, and went in for an attack of his own.

"You've got spirit, that I'll grant you turtle San." Kai told him. "But you shall not be so easily victorious." He initiated a fist punching combo, and sent Leo tumbling back down the hallway. Leo heavily pulled himself up again, scowling up at him with a frustrated snarled. He felt a stick on his arm and hands grabbing him from behind, which he whipped around to swing at; only to receive a blow to his back and hit the floor once again.

"Master Kai! Are you alright!" Chaplin asked.

"How is this possible, Chaplin!" Shin demanded intensely. "I thought he was under our control!"

"-Uh, well he was." Alexander stuttered. "Perhaps the dosage wasn't strong enough.." Leo struggled to keep his eyes open, their conversation blurred in and out as he did. The muffled sound of it, made it feel like they were in another room versus standing right above him like they were.

_Gotta.. keep.. going! Can't.. let this... end now! _He breathed to himself. He heavily shifted his hand around, and used his weight to pull the scientist's feet out from under him; rolling up to his own.

"Maybe we should get him to- woah!!!" Chaplin hit the floor flat on his back, as Leo got himself up. He stumble about a bit, from the dizziness and light-headed feeling that washed over him.

"Impressive, overcoming the delirium." Kai told him, making Leo turn around to face him. "Perhaps you're tougher than I anticipated." He held his fists up to fight once more. Leo did the same, breathing in light gasps and squinting to clear his hazy vision.

_XXXX_

"Hua!" Mikey cried, as he took out another guard ninja. "We're going nowhere fast dudes! How are we gonna find Leo?!" The young turtle whined.

"Quiet Mikey!" Donnie hissed, turning back to the locked door he was working on. "You'll give us away. Besides, I'm almost done." The locked clicked and the door finally opened. "Come on, let's go find Leo!"

_XXXX_

Leonardo was plunged through another door, coming into contact with stone this time. The impact sent another disorienting wave over him, and he clutched his head tightly. He looked up in surprise, as another battle cry rang out and Kai attacked. Leo managed to evade the blow and stumble up the stairwell; Kai not far behind. He practically fell into the door opening it that way, panting all the while. He received a kick to the back that sent him stumbling back; receiving more pain and then darkness...

**Hey guys how's it going!! This story has just been soo fun to write! Still more to come, so I hope you stick around for more!! Enjoy!! Thx!!!**


	11. Where To Go?

Chapter ten: Where To Go?

Kai took slow heavy steps toward the turtle, he too was winded by the all-out attack by this point.

"This- will be your final- act of resistance!" He sneered through gritted teeth. He raised his blade to finish the battle; but this act was suddenly halted by a hand grabbing and twisting his wrist down. Kai cried out in pain, as he was forced around and kicked away. Splinter sported a warrior stance in the direction he had sent the man, as he recovered himself. Kai braced his left hand up against the side of the building's rooftop wall, and wiped his mouth with his other fist.

"So, there really _is_ an old rat master of four mutant turtles." Kai deadpanned sarcastically.

"Yes, and you have messed with my son for the last time." Splinter declared, and lunged forward with his jade weapon drawn. Shin gladly thrust himself forward into battle.

Raph, Donnie, and April reached Leo quickly, April kneeling down next to him. His head was turned to the right and he was lying face down; a shell-patterned crack on the wall just above him. The girl put a hand to his shoulder and he only slightly began to stir.

"Look, he's got a fresh needle stick." Donnie observed. "They must have injected him with something."

"Who cares about that now." Raph complained dryly. "Let's get him out of here, we can worry about that later." Leo began to wake and pushed himself up to his hands and knees, as Donnie and Raph were blindsided by ninjas.

Karai and April landed out of an acrobatic combination from the fight, landing next to each other with only about a yard of space between them.

"We need to get rid of this place." Karai called.

"What?! Why?" Mikey asked, swinging his kasurigama chain skillfully above his head; still immersed in battle.

"Because; any information they have on Leo, could be used against us, even if we _do_ get out of here." Karai explained.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" April wondered thoughtfully.

"Blow the place." Karai responded simply. "I still have some with me from when Leo, Shini and I were taking down Foot operations."

"Go. Do what you must." Splinter said; coming out of the battle for a short time. "We will take care of Leonardo."

"-No need,- Sensei." Leo interjected, raggedly standing up. He adopted a middle stand, drawing his blades broadly at his sides; his eyes going white as he charged toward Kai. He leapt up and attacked with a kick, spun around and repeated with the other. Landing, he caught the ninja's blade with his in the form of an 'X' holding fast; but still proving to be difficult.

"Just go!" Raph called looking over his shoulder and waving them away. "We got this." Then two girls nodded and April levitated the two of them down to the ground. Making it to the ground, they both ran for the Shell-Razor.

"Good thing I kept these around." Karai said, somewhat, to herself as she pulled the satchel out, and taking one of the it's explosive contents out. She then set the device back into the bag, grabbed it and retreated back out; with April right behind her.

_XXXX_

Raph's battle cry could have shook the ground, as angry as he was in the moment. He and Donnie plowed through some of the ninjas, reaching Kai Shin to leap frog attacks on him; forcing him to step back for each one. He reached the corner and nearly fell off it, but grabbed Donnie's Bo staff and used it to hand attacks between the two turtles; wiping them both out simultaneously with one final punch! Leo sliced in after his brothers hit the ground, accompanied by Mikey; who had a hold on his arm and was launched forward at Shin like a sling shot.

"Stay away from my brother!!" Mikey exclaimed threateningly, after making his attack.

"Who said he was the _only_ one?" Kai retorted sinisterly, he reached in to stab Michelangelo, but a certain turtle in blue pushed his brother away, and caught the blade in his hands directly in from of his body using his metal hand claws. Leo somehow gained enough strength to throw the blade away, out of Kai's hands. He then lunged forward for a frenzy of punches and kicks that were so heated, he almost couldn't think straight. They again started to work their way back towards the edge of the building. Leo swung for the final blow, when suddenly his breath was literally knocked out of him; and he hit the floor with an intense pain in his chest. Kai retracted from his undercut punch, then twisted his neck to crack it roughly. Leo began to sit up when he was blindsided by another pound to the chest sending him back a ways.

"Leo!!" Mikey cried, picking up his brother and dragging him across the floor away from Kai. He nervously looked on, after he leaned him against the side of the building's wall, as Leo gave a breathless cough.

"Ugh, -those could break bones." Leo gasped, his voice cracking more than usual. Mikey looked up and scowled as he said this, and headed back into the battle once again.

_XXXX_

Karai stuck an explosive to the wall and tapped a couple buttons.

"I'm setting it to go off at the press of a button." She said. "That way we can get out without having a limited amount of time exit the building."

"We should still get out fast." April said; and Karai glanced back at her again and nodded.

"Let's place as many as we can, we need to hit the most important places, like the science and computer labs. That's where most of the most important stuff is."

"Then let's move." April decided, and the two girls raced off.

_XXXX_

Raph held Leo's arm over his shoulder and he stiffly helped him to stand. The turtle in blue held his blade like a cane for extra support; unable to stand up completely straight.

"We need to go!" Donnie sang with increasing distress; holding his Bo staff, with both hands, across his body.

"Yeah, but how? They're blocking our only way out." Raph protested, gesturing toward it with a Sai in one hand.

_XXXX_

Karai stuck a bomb on the wall and took off again. Her heart pounding harder in her chest as the mental timer in her head ticked on. Feeling as though running at the speed of light, she focused on placing the explosives. April levitated ones of her own and stuck them into place with ease and headed off herself.

"Ok that's the last one.." Karai declared sticking the final bomb to the wall. "Now let's go get Leo and the others." April nodded and the two girls sprinted off for the roof once more.

_XXXX_

"Look out!" Raph gently laid Leo aside, as he was attacked by flying stars. He landed far to the right of where he once was facing opposite Leo; both being in the corners of the building's roof.

"You want me? Well you better try harder than that." Raph taunted, drawing his other Sai. The ninjas growled and began to head toward him. Leo began to push himself up again, shifting onto his back; catching a glimpse of Raph just a short distance from him.

The door swung open, launching ninjas forward and off the side of the building. And April sent a wave of her powers to flatten the ninja that were still standing.

"Everything's set, let's get out of here!" April called.

"Raphael, grab Leonardo!" Splinter ordered, the turtle nodding and obeying the order. Instinctively, the old rat master pulled out his blade to catch an attack from Kai; who had avoided the earlier wave easily.

"Everything I do; will be to end you and your pathetic followers... once and for all!!" Shin thundered through gritted teeth. Splinter shifted his weight and freed his blade to slice about in combat for a short while, before landing an attack that caused Kai to stumble back away from him.

"Destruction of a good thing, simply dooms the world to more tragedy and pain." Splinter responded firmly, adopting his usual erect stance.

"Only if you destroy something that is of value." Kai retorted coldly, launching himself forward toward Splinter once more. Splinter adopted a battle stance, as Kai drew closer and closer; waiting for the right time to act.

Splinter's blade clashed with Shin's, their blazing eyes glaring into one another's.

"You will not succeed!" Kai snarled.

"Success is achieved only through persistence and patience." Splinter groaned in a constricted tone. He threw Kai off of him, so that he was now standing about a yard or two from the door.

"I tire of this!" Kai spat. He reached into the folds of his kimono and took out a device. "Chaplin! Let's us be done with these pests."

"Way ahead of you, Shin San!" Alexander replied, coming through the door; with some sort of weapon rolling in behind him.

"I'm fine." Leo insisted, nudging his brother's shoulder away, and using his blade in the other hand to stabilize himself in his one-legged kneel. Raph stood up where he was, holding his Sai loosely; waiting to see if he really was alright. Leo held his head for a dizzying moment; when a sound to his far left made him look up.

"Raph, look out!!" Leo cried hoarsely, pushing his brother out of the way and pulling his katana out to block the fiery beam surging toward him!!

**Hi guys, what's up?! So excited and proud of this chapter!! I love how this all fell into place and I can't wait to see what you guys think of it! Enjoy!! Thx!!!**


	12. Wounds To Heal

Chapter eleven: Wounds To Heal

Heaviness... pain... silence... pain... light-headedness... pain... burning... heaviness... and even more pain. _Where am I? _Leo's mind thought. Darkness meant his eyes were closed... either that or he had gone blind. He ordered his body to move, yet nothing happened. A second attempt brought no more success than the first._ Was he dead? Or was he merely restrained again?_ He pushed once more for movement. Success finally welcomed him, with an erupting volcano of excruciating pain that forced his eyes to open. They darted about in a panic; the sensation burning through his entire body, feeling as hot as the sun itself. His breaths became audibly panicked; and for good reason. As he looked down at himself to discover the reason for the constant heaviness; all he saw was white and red. His vision blurred with tears, sending more pain singeing through his skin.

The white patterns over his body, he finally realized, were pads of gauze! _What had happened to him?!?! And where was he?!_ Through his split vision, he saw a figure come to stand over him; catching a glimpse of... purple? Motion indicated talking, but the sound was muffled and distant nearly to the point of being unrecognizable. More figures gathered round, colors of red, orange, brown and black appearing around him. The voices continued, as did his panicked gasping breaths, the voices were calm. _Why were they so calm?! Did they not know what was happening to him?! Or did they, and had no way of telling him??_ The heaviness on his left hand weighed slightly heavier; _a hand_. The strange sensation of it, did not deter him from noting the three finger-feeling of it; _Donnie! _He was home! He _had_ to be. But then the other blobs standing around him, must be that of Mikey, Raph, April, Casey, Karai, and Master Splinter! The rest of his family were there! And this fact put him at ease and he finally began to calm now.

~Donnie's POV~

Donnie sat aimlessly tapping the pen on the table in front of him. His mind drifted to the events of the past several hours...

_Time seemed to stand still as the blast penetrated through Leo's katana barricade and onto him; plunging the turtle up and over the edge of the building!!._..

The sound of a door opening, pulled Donatello out of his thoughts and he turned to look back at it.

"..Is Leo awake yet?" April asked quietly, a solemn look in her blue eyes.

"No." Donatello sighed, dropping his gaze away from her; only so he could lift it straight up to his wounded brother. He stared at his brother in blue listlessly, his vegetative state a heart-wrenching sight to behold. The brainy turtle's heart leapt, as he saw something he almost couldn't believe.

"Did you see that?!" He gasped, jerking forward in his chair. He got up and hurried over to the bed. April left her place at the door; as the rest of the team arrived to replace her for a brief moment, before also drawing near. Donnie immediately saw that Leo's eyes were open, and he could easily see the disoriented panic in them; as he looked about him.

"Ok, ok, easy.." Donnie soothed gently. "Leo, you're ok... you're home again..." The young turtle in blue, however, did not seem affected by his words; as his breaths remained vocally distressed.

"Can he hear us?" April wondered aloud.

"I don't know." Donnie replied, wondering himself. Donnie placed his bandaged hand on Leo's delicately, so as not to cause him too much more pain. "Leo.. you're fine... do you understand? You're safe.." After a couple more minutes, Leonardo finally calmed again. "Good, that's good." Donatello murmured thankfully. "Just rest... you're safe here." Leo must have heard this... or rather, came to the conclusion himself; either way he closed his eyes and likely went back to sleep again. Donnie shifted back, lowering his shoulders gently with a sigh.

_XXXX_

The silence was deafening... no one person without a sense of remorse and guilt. No one spoke... nor did they look at anyone else in the room. They just sat there in the lowered sitting area of the Lair around the tv. The motion of the glowing shapes and colors moving across the screen was unable to deter them from the sunken feeling deep within each one of them; eating hem from within. Splinter simply stood above them, thoughtfully stroking his beard; his brow furrowing over his closed eyes in deep thought. Raph dared himself to look up, but only for a brief moment; before his eyes hit the floor once more.

_XXXX_

The thump on the floor finished the set up, as Karai took a couple steps back to study the dummy she'd just set up. She walked about a yard or two from it, and turned around in a snap with her weapon draw up by her face. Scowling at the figure, she silently sneered and imagined the sickening face of Kai being the one standing before her in the moonlight; which shown through the windows into the throne room. An angry cry rang out as she charged toward the dummy. The illusion of Kai stepping into a left back stance, preparing for her attack, being all she saw in her mad sprint. Finally reaching him she sliced violently like nothing was gonna stop her, her anger firing on all cylinders through her attacks and she finished with one final slice! Now breathing heavily in a frozen lunge, with her blade extended from her arms to the right; the dummy fell to pieces before her. Her knees hit the floor,... her blade stabbing the ground in front of her. Her hands gripped the handle and she leaned forward onto it; all her eyes registered below her was floor, which soon blurred beyond recognition. Drops fell and shattered like diamonds against the ground between her and the metal's edge; sobs becoming more and more audible as she knelt there... bawling away her remorse with a seemingly unquenchable passion.

~one week later~

The wounded turtle in blue seethed in pain, as he was placed in a soft recliner in the main living area of the Lair; and settled when he was still again. His eyes didn't open for, even, a second, nor matter how disrupted he was in his sleep. Raph and Donnie stood back from him, now that he was where they wanted him.

"We can allow him to adjust himself, how he feels comfortable." Donnie stated flatly.

"His burns don't seem to be getting any better." April remarked helplessly. "Should we call someone?"

"Well believe it or not they are." Donatello replied looking her in the eyes lightly. "They still just look terrible on him." He looked back at his sleeping brother in saying this. "We're just lucky his hands got in the way of his face... otherwise the burns on it would've been so much worse. Leo was laid back so his legs were stretched out in front of him, and his head rested awkwardly towards his right shoulder. Though he looked uncomfortable, he certainly felt somewhat the opposite the way he was nestled in this position. His arms had been limply draped across the arms of the chair, and his body being leaned to the left a bit also aided in the comfort of this particular placement.

"He looks so uncomfortable." April remarked painfully.

"He just suffered severe second-degree burns to the entire front half of his body.." Raph replied, an uncharacteristic gentleness to his otherwise rough tone. "..of course he's uncomfortable."

"Maybe some medicine might help him." Donnie thought aloud.

"Like what?" April asked.

Two round, quarter-size tablets sank into the clear solution, emanating fizzy bubbles that shot up for the empty space at the top of the bag. Donnie hung the bag up, and took the needle into his hand; poking it into the healthy skin on the inside of Leo's right elbow, where his elbow pads had protected his skin. Leo flinched at the stick and turned away from him, but then settling back as he was once again.

"That should help with his pain.." Donnie said stepping back again. "..For awhile anyway." The turtle in purple seemed half doubtful in uttering this statement, but liked to hope he was right about it.

"Then perhaps we can busy ourselves with a little training." Splinter advised thoughtfully.

The turtles reluctantly strode toward the Dojo, wishing they could be doing something more for their brother; rather than leaving him to rest like they'd been doing for awhile now. But seeing as how there was nothing to do but wait, they left him anyway. April stopped to look back at Leo in the chair one last time, placing her hand on the large door post of the dojo; before also following them inside.

**Hey guys how's it going!! Another fun chapter that I'm _really _proud of!! The change in POV was a fun little thing I wanted to try, cause it was too perfect of a situation. So I hope you guys like it!! Enjoy!! Thx!!!**


	13. Recalling What Happened

Chapter twelve: Recalling What Happened

Leo's eyes began to blink open, as he slowly lifted his head up a bit. The team had long since finished their practice and had come out to check on him again; who had still been sleeping at the time. They sat down to watch tv for awhile, when they heard something shift behind them; which they found was their leader in blue finally waking up.

"Leo?" Raph asked, crawling toward him.

"*groan* Hey Raph." Leo replied hoarsely, his voice so hoarse that it was barely audible at all.

"Hey man." The turtle in red returned, sitting in a composed kneel. "So.. how ya feelin'?"

"What- happened?" The turtle in blue answered, leaving his brother's question unanswered.

"You got caught in the blast from Chaplin's super weapon." Donnie told him. "It burned the entire front half of your body with a giant radiation beam." Leo touched a hand to his right bicep, and grimaced from the pain of it.

"How long has it been." Leo asked, almost wondering if he wanted to know as he uttered the words.

"A week..." Donnie trailed, with a shrug. "..and a half."

"What?!" Leo shot forward, But was slammed in the head with an intense, thumping pressure. He relaxed back and blinked a few times, to wait for the pounding to subside.

"Take it easy, bro." Mikey cautioned. "You've gotta relax, and let yourself heal."

"*light groan* I've been out for a week- and a half?" Leo rasped, coughing dryly; trying to sound calmer than he was a second ago.

"Pretty much.. actually." Donnie admitted sheepishly.

"Ugh, great." Leo groaned, rolling his head away from them dryly. He pulled his shoulder up to shift his position, but only received more fiery pain shooting up and down through his body. He flinched as another memory flashed across his mind, and he gripped his head in his right hand.

"Easy.." Donnie cautioned unsteadily. "It's gonna take time for you to heal. And whatever Kai and his goons were injecting you with; it may have some lasting affects, that should wear off soon."

"*light groan* perfect." Leo's sarcastic nature was honestly to be expected. And the team knew he would react as such; but at least now he could start to deal with it, now that they were safe again. Karai stood at the back of the group, she crossed her arms and turned away from them; hoping they wouldn't see and walked off toward the dojo. Splinter just barely caught sight of her, as she climbed the short stairway beyond them.

_XXXX_

She stood before the mantle, glancing at the photos of Splinter and his young turtles; and the photo of him, his wife, and herself as a baby. She sighed and lowered her head in shame.

"What troubles you, my daughter?" Splinter voice earning him a glance of her shoulder; as he approached; seemingly from nowhere.

"I am as much at fault for this as the man that did this." Karai returned sharply, kicking herself inside.

"Bad choices will always cause pain." Splinter told her wisely. "But the one who rises up to face the challenge of fixing it, is the one who shows the true strength of their character. It is a testament to the choice _you_ have made in who you want to be."

"But I'm the reason we're in this mess in the first place!" Karai protested turning toward him squarely. "If I had never brought him to the Foot Clan lair; Leo might actually be ok right now."

"You cannot know that for certain." The old rat assured her, closing his eyes to shake his head. "Leonardo was in danger no matter what... and even though there were other ways of handling the situation, we cannot take back what as already been. All we can do, now, is try to fix it as best we can;... by being there for Leonardo while he recovers." He placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. Looking him in the eyes simply, she bowed her head to him.

"Now, let us go get some answers." Splinter said, ushering her out with his arm around her shoulders, holding his other arm folded behind his back as they set off.

_XXXX_

"So... what exactly happened? After... you know." Leo asked hoarsely; shrugging very slightly at the last part. "The last thing I remember is knocking Raph out of the way of that blast."

"Well obviously your katana didn't save you." Donnie told him dryly. "But after that..."

_"Leo!!" The team cried. April ran over to the edge and threw her hand down; catching him with her powers just in time to gently set him down on the ground, amongst the rocks brought down by the blast. April then jumped off the edge and levitated herself down to start dragging Leo into the Shell-Razor._

_"Let's go!" Raph called, halfway to the door. He and Donnie joined up and plunged toward the cannon; weapons drawn and ready. Kai and Chaplin stepped in front of them, but the two turtles stopped and locked hands. Mikey lunged forward and stepped on their hands to be launched up into the air._

_"Booyakasha!!" He yelled, rolling in the air and slamming down a smoke-bomb. The purple cloud was enough for Raph and Donnie to plunge forward and attack Chaplin and Kai, sending them backwards into the weapon; knocking all three of them into the stairwell. They tumbled down the stairs, as the team skillfully made their way down; sliding down the railings and stuff, the smoke following them. Chaplin, Shin, and the weapon crashed in a heap at the bottom of the stairs; as the turtles, Splinter and Casey hopped and stepped over them to enter the building. They hit the ground running and raced for the exit._

_"Move, move, move!" Raph urged, sprinting faster._

_Kai threw Alexander off of him and looked up, when he heard a beeping noise. The purple cloud cleared, and little red lights flashed all around the stairwell, and even down the hall, through the open door. Kai scowled and began to get up instantly. Chaplin scrambled after him and they raced for the door. They had almost made it to the door when it was slammed shut and two minutes later it went up in flames!!..._

"After that we rushed back here with you." April explained.

"We were able to tend to your wounds." Donnie put in. "But it'll take time for you to fully heal with the injuries you sustained before the radiation."

"No surprise there." Leo stated sarcastically.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Raph questioned sharply, feeling offended by this attitude.

"...Nothing." Leo responded, softening up. "Sorry."

"Do not be depressed, my son." Splinter advised tenderly. "What you have been through was not a hand dealt to you willingly. And you cannot despair in the face of the situation itself, as bleak as it may seem."

"I know, sensei." The young leader nodded slowly.

"Rest now, my son." Splinter told him turning to leave.

"Haven't I done enough of that?" Leo complained lightly, and Splinter turned back to him.

"You still have much to recover from." He said. "Rest is the best, and _only_, remedy for injuries such as these." Leo sighed and dropped his gaze; using his foot to gently rock the chair back and forth slightly. Splinter headed off on his way again; likely to meditate in the dojo. And the rest of the team returning to the television; with the relief in mind that Leo was, in fact, doing better. After awhile Leo began to nod off, he fought it fiercely; but soon lost that battle. The last thing we remembered thinking was... _what is Kai up to now?_

_XXXX_

The silence was momentarily interrupted by the creaking of a door. The only light in the room was a gentle green glow; which pulsed with the alien light that it constantly emitted. Steady breaths harmonized with the constant melody of the ventilator, which kept the air moving.

"Master Shredder, we've just received word." Razhar reported swiftly, bowing before his master. "Kai Shin has arrived in the city. He's attempting to stabilize your operations."

"Ugh... what-.. business is it of his- if I-.. did not send.. for his aid." Shredder breathed slowly; almost barely possessing the strength to utter these words.

"It appears he's acting alone once again, Master." Razhar guessed. "On your behalf, of course." He finished with a respectful bow of his head.

"Anything else,.. Bradford?" Shredder respired deeply.

"Nothing yet." The wolf-dog mutant replied simply. "Except for that there was an explosion at his old hideout on the 'T' intersection of Harland road. No one knows the cause of it."

"There's.. no need to question.. why..." Shredder noted aloud. "So long.. as a certain rat still lives!"

"I don't think it was him, Master." Tiger Claw insisted, boldly entering the room. "This can only be the work of that meddlesome pest Karai and her witch-girl friend."

"And don't forget the blue one of the turtles; Leonardo." Razhar put in with a point of his finger. "Rumor says he's been working with them in secret; without the rat's knowledge, to take us out for good."

"We.. can assume nothing!!" Shredder attempted to yell, only starting up a coughing spell; which sent sharp pains throughout his body, stabbing him in the chest especially.

"Pleaszze, mazzzter. You muzzzt rezztt yourzzelf. You need time tooo recover." Stockman-Fly cautioned.

"In any case, we'll take care of it, Master." Tiger Claw decided, kneeling in their usual bow before him. "We will look in to the matter to gain the information for you."

"You better." Shredder threatened with another weak cough. The tiger mutant rose, and he and Razhar left without another word.

**Another chapter everybody!! Hope you guys enjoy. The creativity has been fun with this story! Enjoy!! Thx!!!**


	14. Rollercoaster!

Chapter thirteen: Rollercoaster!

Leo had fallen asleep leaning on his left side. No one payed him any mind because of this, due to the fact that they knew he needed the rest. The show they were watching was somehow more entertaining now than it had been before; possibly because it was boring to start, but, more likely, because of their earlier worries being a more significant factor. Having the pressure finally relieved, they could now focus on something more desirable. But even as they sat there watching, they couldn't help but glance back every so often to check on him; as if he were gonna suddenly get up and walk away without warning.

"Hey dudes; why do we keep looking back there? We know Leo's still there." Mikey stated obviously.

"We know that, Mikey." Donnie told him as they all glanced back together. "But the thing is we're still kinda worried about him."

"Yeah, I mean who even knows what all went on while he was captured." Raph pointed out harshly.

"Whatever experiments they did on him, they see to have some lasting effects that'll take a while to wear off." Donnie hypothesized.

"Hmph, you mean _if_ they wear off." Raph put in bluntly, crossing his arms dubiously. Donnie shot him a cold glare, and tightened his fists in frustration.

"Come on, Raph. Try not to see the bad side of things for a change." April piped up sternly. "Leo _will_ recover. We just have to give him a break, okay." Leo stirred, then leaned his body the other way; settling once more with a deep, audible sigh. When Leo was quiet again, everyone turned back to Raph; who crossed his arms once again and looked away with a defiant scowl.

_XXXX_

Splinter's ears twitched, his brow furrowing over his closed eyes. His spirit focus into one single entity; allowing him access to a realm beyond the scope of physical being. As his thoughts wandered through this dark, nebula-covered abyss; he began to enter into visions of all different types. One in particular catching his his attention.

_Leonardo was in a room alone, but then he was suddenly fighting a figure that looked much like Kai. As Leo attacked, he could feel an off sort of ora coming off of the turtle; one he could not place, but one he didn't feel was a good one. Leonardo seemed unaware of his presence, as he appeared to only be focused on attacking Kai. The young turtle attacked more violently than he'd ever seen from his beloved son in blue. And the off feeling he'd gotten from him seemed to be heightened by this behavior, increasing the awful nature of the entire vision._

When it ended he fell forward onto his knees. His arms stopped his fall, as he gasped for breath; as though waking from a terrible nightmare.

_XXXX_

It came as a shock to everyone there, when Leo shot forward off the chair; landing on his knees and clutching his head in a distressed grimace.

"Leo!!" The team jumped up to scramble toward him. Splinter coming out, having heard his cry, and then hurried toward them as well.

"Dudes, what's happening to him?!" Mikey cried helplessly. The pressure on his head was enormous! Leonardo felt like his head was going to burst, that the only relief would be to die right then and there. He would go so far as to say he _was_ dying, as badly as it hurt. All he could see was flashes of his violent behaviors toward his brothers, his friends, and even towards his Kai and his men. He threw his head up for another cry of agony, and the pressure finally ceased. He limply sprawled to his right; his body on fire from the burns still singeing his skin. As soon as he hit the floor, though, he remained there. Nearly curled up in a ball; refusing to move due to all the pain, practically in tears from the look of it. Raph stepped forward to help.

"Stop! Let him be for a second." Donnie said, stopping him quickly. Leo groaned and slowly opened his eyes; pain still plastered across his face, as he registered what stood before him; even from where he lay.

"Leo?.. are you alright?" April asked worriedly.

"No.." Leo groaned hoarsely. "Everything hurts."

"I know, but let's see if we can change that." She said, then began to levitate him back into the chair.

"Is there any way to help him feel better?" Raph questioned hotly. And Donnie thought with a hand to his chin.

_XXXX_

Donnie found an old blanket and soaked it in fresh, cool water and then he and April laid it over Leo; having the chair laid all the way back for him to spread himself out.

"The coolness of this wet blanket should calm the pain of his burns down, and, hopefully, help him to rest for a bit." Donatello stated simply, when they'd finished; stepping back from away him.

_XXXX_

"Come on, Donnie, there's gotta be something more we can do." Raph insisted, joining the rest of them around the kitchen's island. "Can't you mix up another cure for him or something."

"Remember the _last_ time that happened?" April reminded him dryly. "He got sick and then we had to fight the Creep, which was created from its mutagen base."

"Well what else _can_ we do." Raphael returned sharply. "There's gotta be something. I'm tired of just sitting around and watching this go on."

"We all do, Raph.." Donnie put in, becoming irritated by this point. "But all we can do is try to keep him still and resting. We're managing his pain as best we can... but there's nothing more we can do, except keep an eye on him."

"Maybe there's just nothing more you _want_ to do." Raph snarled coldly. "Maybe you're missing something. Maybe there's something out there that's even beyond your big brain, Don."

"Raphael, that is enough!" Splinter spoke up intensely. "We are all trying our best to hold it together, but it is ok to leave to clear your head. Come back again when you feel ready." Raph groaned and left the room out of his own free will and likely headed to the dojo to train.

"Now, perhaps the healing hands mantra could help him." Splinter then suggested, closing his eyes to look up at his remaining students.

"Of course!! Why didn't I think of that?!" Donnie gasped, hope beginning to come upon him now. "Can you do it on him now, Sensei?"

"I can try." The old rat master replied inquisitively.

_XXXX_

Splinter stood over Leo to focus; low mumbling helping him to characterize the motions he was making with his hands. As his hands began to glow, he touched them to the young turtle's blanketed body; both he and Leo taking on this same glow. The mighty leader in blue seemed to feel the change occur because, he squirmed uneasily is his slumber; as if to escape what was being done to him. But Splinter continued his chanting; the rest of the team waiting and watching as Raph rejoined them slowly. Leo stirred further, but soon fell silent once again; and Splinter finished. When the glow died away, Leo's eyes began to open; and he peered at them with hollow, blue eyes.

"How ya feelin' now?" Donnie asked sensitively, leaning forward ever so slightly.

"Ok I guess." Leo responded slowly, personality now beginning to return to his eyes. "A little bit better than before. Something's definitely changing." He felt something shift and he came forward a bit, a sharp pain stabbing him in the chest; receiving a hand to it for support.

"Easy man.." Raph cautioned softly. "Don't overdo it, ok."

"Ugh, yeah.. sure." Leo breathed, relaxing back again. Everyone fell silent again; their thoughts wandering. Leo noticed the haunted look in Splinter's eyes and couldn't deny how alarming it felt to see it. "Sensei? Are.. you ok?" He managed to ask, rather unsurely. Splinter perked up at the attention being put on him, unsure of how to respond.

"I... am fine, my son." He said finally. "We have all just had a lot on our minds lately." Leo had a deep inkling that that wasn't the case, but figured there was a better time to ask about this later.

"We'll continue using the healing hands on you until you're doing better." Donatello said. "Hopefully you'll be able to move by then."

"Yeah.. thanks." Leo sighed and looked down at the wet blanket on him. The sound of the turnstile, brought attention to it and they all looked. The young Foot Clan leader stood there with a look they were unfamiliar with seeing from her, as she looked up to meet their gaze.

"Karai?" Leo said, clearly surprised to see here. The kunoichi hesitated a moment.

"I.. I think this was a mistake." She said finally turning to leave.

"No wait!" Leo called after her, trying to get up again; but only receiving more burning, stabbing pain. Karai did stop, however, and couldn't ignore the turtle; even if she wanted to.

"My sons, let us give them a little time to themselves." Splinter suggested, and turning to walk away. The team glanced around at each other as Leo relaxed back again; and then followed after their master. Leo and Karai watched one another until everyone was gone.

"Karai.. I-" The girl stopped the turtle short with a wave of her hand.

"I know what you're gonna say." She told him.

"What are you talking about?" Leo asked, unable to grasp her meaning.

"I know I messed up." Karai interjected harshly, still kicking herself inside. "I should've never done what I did to you."

"Karai, I don't blame you." Leo told her quickly. "You were only trying to help me. It's ok.-"

"Except for its not!" Karai returned sharply. She closed her eyes firmly, then looked back up at him. "You could've been killed that day; and I led them straight to you... you're only in the mess because _I_ failed miserably."

"Master Splinter says that there is no right or wrong; only choices." Leo returned firmly. "You made a choice, and it turned out to be wrong. You couldn't have known it would end up like this."

"Except for I should have!"

_XXXX_

"You think we should stop this?" Donnie asked, as they all stood around the door post listening in on the conversation.

"No; this is something they must work through on their own." Splinter told them.

_XXXX_

"No one can predict what's going to happen until it happens!" Leo shouted.

"But we should have!!" Karai thundered. "Even Shredder says there's always a way to know the results of a decision!"

"Shredder has lied to you about so many things, and yet you still believe him?" Leo snapped.

"He raised me!" Karai shrieked. "Who else am I gonna believe?!"

"Maybe the ones who _really_ care about you?!" Leo flared, glaring at her in frustration. Karai softened up at this, realizing the truth of his words.

"I'm sorry." She said, dropping her gaze and taking her upper arm with her opposite hand; coming to sit down below him. She looked up at him with earnest eyes. "Ever.. since I found out that.. Splinter was my true father.. I've begun to question some of the things I've been taught in my life."

"I figured as much." Leo told her truthfully. "But that's why you should come to us... because you can always be sure we're telling you the truth... And if were not.. it's cause we don't wanna hurt you _or_ lose you." Karai dropped her gaze to lift it up to him once more. "Trust me;.." Leo reiterated. "We'd never try to steer you wrong." They shared another silent moment together, each staring at the other thoughtfully.

**Hi guys!! Can't wait to see what you think of this chapter!! Excited with where this is going to be honest. Enjoy!! Thx!!!**


	15. Filling The Void

Chapter fourteen: Filling The Void

Leo's voice cracked in a dry cough; raising his voice, even a little, seemed to dry his throat out even more. April handed him some water to drink and leaned on the arm of the chair next to him.

"I'm sorry for all that." Karai apologized sheepishly. "I'm still kinda trying to work through a few things."

"At least you are making an effort to change, my daughter." Splinter told her wisely, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Putting forth the effort, is better than ignoring it altogether." Leo shifted his position gingerly, seething at the pain it created.

"We wanna be there for you, Karai." He said. "But only if you let us."

"I know... and I'm trying.." Karai told them softly. "I guess I'm not used to people _actually_ having my back." Leo's pupils flickered and he grimaced, placing his hands to his head as a small wave of pressure came and went once more.

"That was a lot shorter than it has been." Donnie observed inquisitively, stepping forward to shine his pen light into Leo's eyes.

"Maybe you're actually right this time." Leo guessed, his eyes still dilating erratically, but only a slight bit.

"I am noticing a bit of a flicker, but I think that'll subside eventually." Donnie said, removing his light again. He touched the blanket. "It's starting to dry out." The brainy turtle noted.

"Maybe we can wet it again, if we need to." April stated.

"Only if we can get it off me for a while." Leo put in. "Kinda getting hot with this _thing_ on me." April carefully began to remove the blanket and folded it up, when something concerning caught her eye.

"Um.. Leo.. how exactly is your pain?" She asked rather specifically.

"You mean right now? Or _after_ you guys start to mess with me again?" Leo returned sarcastically.

"I'm serious, Leo." April told him heavily, sternly glaring at him.

"It's ok I guess..." Leo responded more seriously now. "Why?"

"Cause something doesn't look right." She said, beginning to undo the bandages covering his upper right arm. Lifting away the gauze, she couldn't stop a gasp from escaping her.

"April, what is it?!" Donnie asked, coming to glance over her shoulder; he too gasping in surprise.

"Would you guys knock it off and spit it out already." Leo groaned, rolling his eyes in exasperation; a disoriented heaviness in his demeanor. He began to lift his arm up to use it, but was immediately stopped.

"Leo.. don't move." April told him severely, as though she were treading on thin ice.

"Ugh, why not?" Leo questioned, shifting uncomfortably. April pressed the back of her hand to his forehead.

"He's got a fever." She said.

"This is bad.. but I think I might have something in my lab that can help." Donnie took off for his lab, as April felt around Leo's temples.

"Leo, you're burning up." She told him.

"*scoff, could've fooled me." Leo replied distantly; his eyes seeming to struggle to stay open.

"Stop talking like that." April told him, a tender firmness to her tone. Leo looked up at her with his deep blue, and quite glassy, eyes.

"So what's _really_ going on?" He asked her seriously.

"We think your needle wounds are infected." April reported earnestly. "The infection is giving you a fever and, likely, making you feel awful." Leo grimaced, as though something suddenly flared up. Donnie finally returned, but Leo's vision was starting to blur and he didn't really get a look at what he'd brought with him.

"Ok, Leo. I...I'm sorry about this.." Donnie apologized, simply.

"For what?" Leo asked, but only seconds later did he feel and fiery stick into his arm; erupting another volcano of pain. He hadn't had much time to panic, before everything went dark and he was out in no time at all.

"What the heck did you do to him?!" Raph cried, horrified by what had just transpired.

"Relax Raph, he's just lightly sedated." Donnie soothed loosely, kneeling down to stick the needle and syringe back into his tool box. "He'll be fine in a couple of hours."

"Yeah,.. but was that _really_ necessary?" Raph questioned further, clearly upset by this.

"Unless you want him to feel every single thing we do to him, it was." Donnie shot back hotly, becoming annoyed. "At least now we can care for it quickly, and correctly; and he won't feel a thing." Donnie and Raph stepped forward to glare at each other; their foreheads almost touching.

"Guys, let's not get off track here." April spoke up, pushing the two apart from one another. "He's already out, so let's just make this quick, ok?" Raph groaned in frustration and pushed past them to leave.

_XXXX_

The split, blurriness of his vision normalized and Leo could see the team standing over him. Raph, towards the back; stood looking away from him with his characteristically crossed arms.

"What.. what happened?" He asked drowsily.

"We had to knock you out again, in order to care for your wounds." April told him.

"The puncture wounds from the needles got infected." Donnie explained. "We had to cut them open in order to relieve the pressure; and wrapped them up with something that'll hopefully help fight the infection."

"Oh.. ok." Leo said, reaching his left hand up to rub the back of his neck.

"Now, let us all give him a break to rest." Splinter decided.

"Oh, come on.. how much longer are we gonna do this?!" Raph protested finally; having been silent this entire time. Everyone stopped to look at him.

"What other choice do we have, Raph?" Donnie replied simply.

"I don't know.. something?.. _anything_ but this!" The frustrated turtle returned sharply.

"Raph, relax man, everything's gonna be fine." Leo tried to encourage his brother. "We just have to stay focused. Things will get better eventually."

"Really?!" Raph snapped, turning his harsh glare on him. "When?! It's been over a week since the whole thing happened and all we've ever gotten is more and more bad news."

"I don't know." Leo returned firmly. "But we all gotta chill out. Losing our heads isn't gonna fix anything."

"Humph, like you're one to talk, you're the patient." Raph sneered dryly.

"That's right, I am, so you have no right to complain." Leo shot back harshly. Raph softened up a bit in respond to this, a realization hitting him; cooling his emotions rather quickly.

"You're right.." He said, sheepishly looking away. "Sorry."

"Hey, don't worry about it." Leo comforted him tenderly; softening up as well. "No one wants to be in this situation but- we're here. We just need to make the best of it."

"Yeah.. I know." The turtle in red admitted solemnly.

_XXXX_

Leo's eyes were barely open, he groaned slightly and shifted his head to his left side. Shifting positions proved difficult, not impossible; though it was quite painful to say the least. The wet blanket had been placed on him once again, to cool the burn of his wounds. April came up to him and pressed the back of her hand to his temple; the turtle seemingly too out of it to notice.

"His fever is still hanging on." She sighed unfortunately. "Now what'do we do?" She glanced at the others, as they all began to think. Leo shifted again, seething painfully at the pain it generated throughout his body; a pain that almost made him sick. Barely able to stay awake, he closed his eyes, yet he was still awake inside; like his body was asleep but his brain was not. And even in his disoriented state he could hear their voices bantering on amongst themselves.

"Perhaps there is a mantra or two I can try." Splinter suggested thoughtfully.

"Or someone else we can call?" April guessed.

"Like who? No one else who knows about us would know anything." Raph decided forcefully.

"I really don't wanna have to do this to him again..." Donnie trailed regretfully. "But I think we need to give him a sedative and some medication, and let him sleep it off." Everyone nodded slowly... all in agreement of the unfortunate conclusion.

Donnie stuck in the clean needle, administered what was necessary; and watched the turtle in blue slip away once more. Falling into the deep sleep that called his name relentlessly, until he gave in to its warm, somehow friendly, embrace.

**This story definitely isn't my best work.. but it's certainly not my worst. I feel like this story is _definitely_ better than my first TMNT story; Old Wounds(which was pretty good in my opinion). Idk, lemme know your thoughts(for those of you have read both so far). And enjoy this next chapter. Thx!!!**


	16. Out Of Sorts

Chapter fifteen: Out Of Sorts

The cliche state of his vision cleared away once more, a heaviness hanging over him like the blanket already on him. The lights around him stung his eyes a bit, as they adjusted to being open again. A strange sensation came over him, as Leonardo stirred from the seemingly forever long slumber; which seemed to pass in the blink of an eye for him. As his eyes blinked open, they wandered about, until they settled on the origin of a slight tension on his arm. Through the bandages covering his burns; a needle was attached to him, on the inner side of his right forearm.

"That's to keep you hydrated and feeding you vitamins to keep you healthy." Donnie's voice told him, to which he looked up toward it. "I..I..I'm really sorry we had to knock you out again, but we do think you've improved since then."

"Ugh, since when?" Leo groaned shifting himself off his right side gingerly; realizing how stiff he really was.

"Donnie's medicines kept you asleep for three days straight." April told him.

"You've been slowly improving since then." Karai told him, rather numbly; looking from the team to him again.

"Ih.. so- does that mean the infection's gone?" Leo asked rigidly.

"Uh, not- fully." Donatello answered. "But- mostly. But your fever did seem to hang on as long as it could."

"*sigh* so not much has changed, huh." Leo concluded simply.

"Not really...I'm afraid." Donnie sighed unfortunately, dropping his gaze to the floor.

"I'm done with this..." Leo decided finally, setting the chair up. "I need to get out of here. I need to.. ahhhnn!!" Leo rived in agony, as the burnt skin of his right shoulder spilt right in front of them. The turtle fell forward and immediately grabbed his shoulder in response, nearly in tears from the immense pain. April and the turtles immediately set him back again, and took a thin sheet of gauze and a cool-pack and pressed it gently over the newly opened wound. Leo gingerly gasped for breath, as though it were going to ease the pain; to which it didn't.

"You cannot rush the healing process." Master Splinter advised strongly. "You will only cause yourself more pain."

"Sensei's right, you gotta chill." Donnie concurred. "I don't really wanna sedate you again; but if you don't relax... I might have to."

"Ok, ok, just-.. give me something..." Leo groaned. "I'll sleep it off.."

Donnie administered a light medication and Leo slowly fell a sleep again.

_XXXX_

April groaned and yawned.

"Ugh, thank goodness it's Saturday. This week has just been a nightmare." The girl complained loosely. She and the rest of the turtles remained sprawled out within the lowered part of the main living space of the Lair.

"We've had Leo on a constant medication drip to keep him asleep for the last few weeks, but it still feels like he could get up and attack us at any moment." Donnie sighed, pulling himself up to a sitting position from the bench opposite April.

"How come you think bad every time he wakes up?" April wondered innocently, gesturing with one hand and holding herself up with the other wrapped around her knee. "And it's not like he can control it."

"I know, but-.. even though he isn't trying to attack us... it-..."

"It still makes you a bit anxious around him." April finished for the turtle in purple; unrelated to psychically reading his mind.

"A little, yeah." Donnie admitted, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"We can't give up on him." April decided. "We all need to try not to be afraid of him. Think of what it'll do to him."

"Yeah.." Donnie sighed again, as they all dropped their gazes to the floor.

"You guys aren't the ones who made the mistake." Karai spoke up from where she stood leaning against the wall; looking up at them a moment later. "I'm the one who caused all of this. And I'm constantly paying the price." She lowered her head away from them bitterly. "I see it play over and over in my head.." she said as the memory panned across her mind once more. "It's like a nightmare that never ends.. it keeps repeating..." "...and I can never seem to get past it." She finished sorrowfully. April stood up where she was, not breaking her gaze once.

"You're not the only one hurting, Karai." She told the other girl. "We all watched him get shot with that blast and go over the edge of that building.. No one's blaming you for a choice you couldn't have known was gonna end up that way."

"You're seeing it too then." Karai implied lightly, peering up at her slowly.

"If you mean seeing the whole incident in your dreams every night; then yes." April returned simply.

"Wait.. you're both having nightmares of that day?" Donnie piped up, a bit surprised. The two girls looked to him and nodded. Donnie then became kinda guilty and it showed. He pursed his lips and scratched his hand a bit nervously. April closed her eyes and could almost hear their thoughts without even trying.

"You're having them too." She concluded aloud, opening her eyes again.

"Yeah." Donnie sighed. "And even though some of us won't admit it, I know we're all re-experiencing the same day. And I bet, even Leo, is too."

"And.. Master Splinter?" April wondered slowly. All three turtles sighed and looked toward the dojo.

"Held up in his room, I'm afraid.." Donnie said.

_XXXX_

Splinter knelt on his sleeping mat and meditated... no sound.. nor movement, came from him. Suddenly a flash of Leo getting blasted over the edge flashed across his mind and shocked him out of focus. Falling forward onto all fours, he gasped for breath in his terrified panic.

_XXXX_

"We've taken him off the medication again." Donnie was saying. "We think his burns are healed enough for him to get up and move around again."

"Soo.. you think he'll be up and about today?" Casey wondered, still lying out on the bench, where he'd been this entire time.

"Maybe.." Donnie confirmed, turning toward him. "But I would rather, he wake up and rest for today and try to move a little tomorrow... let him recover from being medicated so long."

"You think it did something to him?" April asked, a bit concerned now.

"No.. by he will be a little out of it when he wakes up again." He looked to Leo still asleep on the chair above them. "Continuous medication treatments can often have a weakening affect on the body. So once he's awake I want him to try and rest on his own for a while, so his body can recover while he's conscious. Then we can get some energy into him and see how he feels tomorrow."

"Speaking of conscious... how long do you think it's gonna take before he _actually_ wakes up?" Raph questioned his back to his brother in blue. Little did he know, though, that, while he was rambling on; a certain young turtle began to stir from his seemingly forever-long slumber.

"It's gonna take time, Raph." Donnie told him simply. "Once I detached the IV tub that delivers the medicine.. it'll still take a couple of hours or so for the medicine already circulating through his body, to wear off."

"So what exactly did you use on him?" April asked curiously. "I thought we said, mutagenic medicine as not a good idea."

Blurred vision found the squabbling turtles and he managed a groan; which got their attention. Deep blue pupils peeked through the barely open eyelids, blinking slowly to adjust to be awake again.

"Leo?!" Donnie gasped. The group quickly drew near, as Leo began to move. The turtle straightened himself out to stretch, but had to retract a bit as not to disrupt his wounds further.

"What time is it.." Leo croaked hollowly, his voice barely audible.

"More like what _day_ is it." Donnie corrected. "You've been out for a few more weeks. We've kept you medicated so you could rest and heal. But we think you should be alright now."

"*light groan* good, maybe we'll actually get somewhere then." Leo attempted to sit up, but then realized he didn't feel like getting up and stopped trying.

"Easy bro." The brainy turtle in purple advised. "I think once we get some food and drinks in your system you'll feel better." He waved Michelangelo over to them; who had just returned with a fresh order of pizza.

_XXXX_

Leo was able to sit up now with the foot rest down; he calmly sipped the juice from the small pouch and ate his slice of pizza slowly.

"We're glad you're doing better, bro." Raph said, glancing up at him with satisfied eyes.

"And you seem a lot more awake and alert than you have been." Donnie observed."

"Yeah..I actually _feel_ more awake now." Leo realized, seeming to, just now, recognize the truth of this observation.

"Well it's good to have you back anyhow." Raph continued.

"It's good to finally _be_ back." Leo re-emphasized thankfully, with a grateful smile.

**Hi guys another chapter. Creativity has been kinda low with this part of the story, so I apologize. But I still hope that it's enjoyable and interests you into continuing to read. Hope you guys will keep at it. And I'll see you next time! Thx!!!**


	17. Distractions

Chapter sixteen: Distractions

Donnie then turned to April, who stood up behind him; on the upper level next to Leo.

"And the answer to your question from earlier is.. I found a way to only slightly modify some standard human medicines to be compatible with our mutant biology." He told her. "So it would be safe for Leo."

"And that's what you've been using on him?" April implied.

"Yup.. and it seems to have worked _better_ than I expected." Donnie answered optimistically.

"Wait so, how is that possible? I thought you guys aren't even human?" April realized suddenly.

"I've spent my life trying to figure out how we mutated into what we are today, and have had varying degrees of success in unraveling the mysteries." Donatello replied. "But once I decided to take a sample of our DNA; I found out that were not that far from human after all. Leo, especially, is more human than any of us. Well.. besides Splinter."

"So you're saying.. you're all half human, half turtle mutants?" April concluded, finally putting the pieces together.

"Exactly." Donnie confirmed. "And even though Raph, Mikey, Leo, and I share the same _turtle_ DNA. The amount of _human_ DNA is different in all of us. Basically Mutagen works in a very common pattern on its own. Anyone to come into contact with it, will usually mutate into the last thing they touched. We were likely handled by humans when Master Splinter got us as babies; possibly even Splinter, himself, may have touched us. Therefore the human DNA mutated us turtles into human-like organisms in the form of giant talking turtles.. ta da!" He threw his hands out in a proud broadway-style finish.

"If you ever call us organisms again, I really am gonna puke!" Raph complained dryly, earning him a distasteful glare from his brother in purple. April looked over at Leo, who seemed to be mindlessly eating his slice of pizza and drinking his juice; staring off in the direction of the blank television.

"Leo.. are...you ok?" She asked, squinting her eyes slightly.

"Huh? Oh..uh, yeah, I'm fine." Leo said, looking up due to the brief delayed response. "Just.. still a bit- out of it, I guess." The hollowness of his eyes further confirmed this guess, and she could understand this quite plainly; she knew it couldn't have been easy after all he'd been through up until this point.

_XXXX_

"Ok.. here we go.." April commentated, tossing aside the bandage that she'd just removed from Leo's leg. She then pulled herself up to one knee to focus on his right shoulder. "You ready?" She asked, glancing at him in anticipation.

"As I'll ever be." The turtle responded simply. Slowly undoing the wrapping, she carefully peeled away the gauze to get a look bright red tear in his dry, scabbed-over skin. As she did so, Leo breathed in a painful breath through his teeth, tensing up as was to be expected; due to the tenderness of the wound.

"Hm.. well, it doesn't look as bad as it did." April noted, as Donatello peered over her shoulder at it as well.

"Yeah! I mean it still looks bad, but-.. not as bad as before." The intelligent turtle raved.

"Ahn, fascinating." Leo mumbled dryly, relaxing once more.

"We'll probably wanna keep this one covered for a bit longer though." April guessed, disposing of the bandage with the rest of them. "You'll also, probably, wanna avoid using that arm too much for a while too."

"Yeah-.. sure.. no problem.." Leo breathed, almost like he'd run a marathon. April knelt down again to prepare to wrap the wound again, with the clean bandages she had with her.

The wound took almost nothing to re-wrap, and the job was easily finished.

"Thanks April." Leo said, placing a hand to the newly wrapped wound. Raph held a hand out to him; having only a slight moment of hesitation to do so. Leo took it, nonetheless, and everyone couldn't help but be a little nervous as he began to pull himself up. When he stood up, a dizziness came over him and he stepped forward to steady himself; immediately bracing himself against Raphael for extra support.

"-easy.." Donnie urged sensitively. "Here.. use this." Donnie then pressed a familiar feeling handle into his right hand. Leo adjusted his grip, to set the end of his old crutch on the ground; shifting his weight onto it.

"Never thought I'd have to see this thing again." Leo commented thoughtfully.

"None of us did." April said, standing next to Donnie with her arms gently crossed; holding her elbow in her hands.

"It's just for a little while." Raph told him tenderly.

"Wait.. _again_?" Karai spoke up in confusion. And Raph and Leo exchanged glances...

_XXXX_

"And this happened after the _second_ Kraang invasion?" Karai seemed to be even more haunted than she had been; having heard the whole story.

"Yeah.." Leo admitted sadly, dropping his gaze to look directly down in front of him.

"How did you come back from that so easily?" She asked, finally daring herself to look him in the eyes.

"I didn't." Leo returned. "It took me months to get past it. Eventually I realized that _I_ was the reason I wasn't getting better."

"But it was after Leo finally healed that we returned to New York, and took it back from the Krrang." Donatello put in.

"So you turtles left the city, to hide out upstate while Leo recovered.. And then, after months of rehabilitation; came back and took an _entire_ city from the Krrang?" Karai recapped. "Gotta say.. that's kind of impressive."

"You don't know the half of it." Leo told her, with a small smile.

_XXXX_

Leonardo shifted under the covers, his burns urging him not to sleep on anything but his back. All his mind could think about... was all the things he wished he could forget...

_Multiple trains of thought ran around him like a busy metropolis; not even New York City was as busy at this time of night. As another one passed him by, it seemed to emit a sound-wave that pounded on his head; yet no sound could **actually** be heard from it. The waves knocked at his eardrums intensely; he looked to where it was.. and what flashed across his mind... he could hardly have guessed..._

_Kai... Chaplin... the view from the table... the needle sticks... the tests done on him... and the battle for his escape!... and everything else that came afterwards. His mind messing with him... the flashbacks... the painful reminders... the anger and frustration... the struggle... and the blast... Suddenly from the last link of the train, the beam of radiation shattered through the memory right towards him!!!..._

Leo awoke with a start; upright in a flash, he gasped for breath like someone had beat it out of him. He swiveled himself to the side of his bed, so that his feet touched the floor. As he looked down at them, he could swear he was seeing flashes of them all wrapped up in the white bandages from his burn recovery. He grabbed his crutch and stood up.. a twinge in his knee sent him to the floor.

"What?! No! I've already gotten past this!" He declared to himself, clenching his eyes closed. And, after a short silence, opened them again; searching the room as though something was there. Daring himself to do so, he began to stand up. Getting to his feet he tested his knee... _no pain_.

_XXXX_

All his eyes stared at was table, he held the mug on the table with his hands carefully fitted around it; his forearms rested on the kitchen's island. He sighed deeply, his low, audible breath the only sound to be heard.

"Leonardo?" Leo looked up quickly toward the rat master standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

"Sensei?! I- what are you doing awake this late?" The turtle asked in surprise as Splinter drew near.

"I could ask you the same thing, my son." Master Splinter replied simply, now standing next to the turtle with both hands on his cane. "What is troubling you?"

"I don't know, Sensei.. I-.." Leo shrugged, dropping is gaze into the mug of herbal tea he'd made for himself. "I guess I.. just can't sleep tonight." He took a sip of he tea and resumed his earlier position.

"I believe I know why you can't focus tonight." Splinter said, after stroking his long beard thoughtfully, for a second. "Your mind was not your own... and now that it is, you have a lot to think about."

"Kinda wishing I didn't, though, Sensei." Leo sighed, turning towards him and lowering his gaze yet again. Splinter set a hand on his shoulder, earning him the turtle's glance.

"No one asks for a distraction; but these wounds run deep." He told his son. "You need to focus on dealing them, in order to get past them.. so you can move on." Leo looked him with a blank stare while he thought about this; then slowly searched the air down as he did so.

"You're mind is simply trying to catch up on all that has happened..." Splinter explained tenderly. "Continue trying to get some rest... you need it as much as ever." He turned to leave as he finished this sentence, and headed off on his way again; leaving Leo with his thoughts.

**Hi guys! What's up?! I love this chapter, mostly because of the heart to heart with Leo and Splinter. I always enjoy the interaction between these two throughout the show; and the many wise things Splinter has told him over the years. I even find myself using these lines and find them to be very true in my life! I don't know if any of you have had this, but that's how I feel about it! Lemme know your thoughts! And, if you want, share your favorite Splinter/turtle quote! Enjoy this next chapter! Thx!!!**


	18. Readjustments

Chapter seventeen: Readjustments

Leo shifted in bed a couple times, then shot upright. His skin burned a bit from the burns, and his wounded body still ached a bit; forcing a groan out of him once again. He looked at the clock; _7:00 a.m. _

"Aw man!" Leo groaned in exasperation. Morning had come,... but he almost wished it hadn't.

_XXXX_

The turtles looked up as Leo entered, the turtle in blue awkwardly approaching them; due to his tender wounds.

"Hey man.. how ya feelin' today?" Raph asked, as casually as he could manage. April and Casey pushed through the turnstile, as he came to sit down in the chair. Leo sighed as he relaxed down; relieved to be able to rest again. As he sat there his eyes still felt a little heavy, yet he resisted the urge to close them to sleep some more. And every time they'd try to close, he jerked himself awake again.

"Hey.. uh..you ok?" Raph asked drawing closer. Leo's head dropped to his shoulder, and he immediately lifted it up again.

"-I couldn't really sleep much-.. last night." Leo finally managed to respond.

"In too much pain?" April guessed.

"No.. just..had a lot on my mind, I guess." Leo replied simply, trying to fight the heaviness of sleep hanging over him.

"It's ok.. you can sleep some more if you need to." Donnie told him tenderly. "The rest'll be good for you." Leo seemed to resist for a second, before finally giving in and closing them; relaxing completely into the chair.

_XXXX_

"Ok.." Raph said, turning from Leo over in the chair to the others at the kitchen entrance right behind him. "How is that he didn't sleep hardly at all last night, but yet he's still asleep after two hours right now?"

"Maybe he felt a bit uneasy last night and now he's not cause we're all here? Maybe he just needed a little security, so he could get some _actual_ rest right now." April suggested.

"Why? Leo doesn't need security, he's no baby." Mikey put in, leaning on Raph's shoulder; who shoved him away a moment later.

"No,.. but I bet after what he's been through, he needs to feel safe because of what happened to him when he wasn't." Donnie guessed thoughtfully.

"Safe or not; he's not gonna feel it for a little while, until he's really started to get back on his feet again." Raph pointed out.

"I guess we'll just have to be there for him until he does." April decided, glancing over at Leo again.

_XXXX_

_The young leader floated in darkness, as though he were underwater; yet he could still breathe like normal. Suddenly a couple streaks, like wormy lasers, snaked around him. One blue the other purple, and after a moment a third one colored red showed up as well, then a yellow, green, and orange one. They all surrounded him, coming close to his face. The lasers bent around, like heads curiously studying him. He looked at them cautiously, wondering what to do next. After a moment, the yellow one lurched forward to wrap part of its body around his neck; which he immediately grabbed at to rip away from him. And just when he'd get that one off, another one would do the same. Leo struggled to rip another one away, but it seemed to make no difference and soon he could no longer do so. The red on finally floated in front of him and shot at his face, and he felt this feeling like he was drowning; but he didn't possess the strength to stop them, or pull them off of him. He slowly began to struggle and sink, gripping the snake-like lights with both hands and desperately thrashing about. Just when he thought it was over, he pulled out his blade from seemingly nowhere and swung it around violently..._

Leo sat up quickly, grabbing his blade as he did and swung it around blindly; his eyes looking solid white.

"Woah, dude calm down!" Raph cried dodging the attacks. Leo suddenly froze, and with a slow confused blink his pupils appeared; in a confused and dazed stare. He looked around and saw the surprised and disgusted faces of his team; only wondering for a second what happened.

"I-" He dropped his blade with a clattering clang, and stumbled back into the chair. "Oh man.." he cursed placing his head in his right hand guiltily.

"Hey, hey, easy man.." as Raph said this he drew closer to pat his shoulder, but as soon as Leo felt his touch he withdrew suddenly; eyes wide(which surprised everyone).

"Sorry." Leo apologized immediately, holding his arm sheepishly. "I guess I'm still a little on edge." Raph shifted back a little, a sympathetic look on his face.

"Uhhh.. why don't we set your katana aside for now." Donnie suggested, trying to hide his nervousness.

"Yeah.. sure." Leo sighed, seemingly oblivious to Donatello's odd demeanor.

_XXXX_

Leo sat at the kitchen's island, and stared sadly down at it. His eyes slowly blinking, as he appeared to just be numbly staring.

"Hey, don't sweat it, dude." Raph encouraged him lightly, setting a cup in front of his brother. "We'll figure this out and get you all fixed up again. Things'll be normal again, I promise."

"You know you can't promise that, Raph." Leo sighed unfortunately, showing no other emotion but that. And he made no eye contact in saying this, instead he only slightly turned his head away from him.

"Ok, fine, I guess I can't." Raph shrugged, beginning an approach. "But we'll do whatever it takes to help you;.. no matter how long it takes." He placed a hand on Leo's left shoulder, to which the turtle in blue sat and watched him do from the corner of his eye; without any sort of reaction to it.

"So what do we do now, dudes?" Mikey spoke up with a shrug.

"First of all... we get Leo back on his feet again." Donnie said.

The sparring segment of their training that day, was done amongst everyone but Leo; who sat and watched with Master Splinter. But it was not unlike any they'd had before, they fought just as they often did, and Splinter always encouraged them to try different things as they went; and corrected them if, at all, needed. The final leg of the free-for-all ended with Raphael pummeling Donnie to the mats, his Sai pointed in his direction; as he lay face down on the floor.

"Ya-me!" Splinter declared stiffly. His students all lined up before him as they usually did; April, Casey, and Karai among them. "Well done my students." He said, as Leo pulled himself up, with the aid of his crutch. "You are all performing well in training. I am proud of you all." He turned to peek back at Leo, who had just turned himself to leave. "Even you, my son." He said, smiling at him.

"But- Sensei- I haven't been in training for weeks." Leo protested in confusion, turning to face him squarely. "What am I doing for you to be proud of?"

"You are here, are you not?" Splinter implied. "And you are alive and well, yes?"

"Well-.. yeah, but-.. what does that have to do with anything?" Leo shrugged, feeling just as lost as he could be.

"You have managed to regain the ability to move around again, and, thus, had the ability to be here during our training time." Splinter pointed out. "You have not been able to be apart of it lately; because of your injuries. But you are still fighting to recover; and I am proud of your determination, my son." Leo simply blinked, uncertainty still hanging on to him.

_XXXX_

_Leo lay in his chair with the foot rest up. Suddenly the chair along with the Lair faded into complete darkness; leaving him floating within the midnight abyss. He sadly stared at the ground, as he was now positioned upright; somehow standing on nothing but air. A massive wave of pain, heavier than anything he'd experienced before, crashed down over him. He grimaced and held his head desperately; resisting its influence passionately. Flashes of the incident zapped across his mind. Sounds and voices whispered in his ears; plaguing his mind as his own cries rang out from that final blow!..._

Leo shot upright with an audible gasped, his eyes darting about; seemingly searching for something that wasn't even there. He sighed and began to lay back down. Turning his body on his side, he tucked his arm under his head against the pillow. Thoughts ran through his mind rather slowly; meandering through his head in a not-at-all organized fashion. His mind could not seem to focus on any one thing for very long; before another would come around to interrupt his previous thought. As his mind wandered, he began to wonder if he'd ever get past this; and if he'd ever become normal again. But all the answers he could think of.. raised more questions.

_XXXX_

Left stance stepped into a right stance; blade held skillfully in well-trained hands. Leo held his position, the discipline of his years of training showing through, as he performed the kada in a swift, steady, slicing motions. This ended with one final swing horizontally, ending as such he felt a twinge. Dropping to one knee, his blade clattered to the ground with a light grimace soon following. Another sigh was released, and he took up his crutch and left the room.

_XXXX_

Mikey's fingers zapped and tapped, as fast as he could manage. He maneuvered his hands about, as if it would help him win.

"Come on, come on!" He breathed to himself. Raph inwardly smirked at his brother's building desperation, as he calmly finished the game with one final punch. "Nooooo!" Mikey bellowed, slowly leaning back to, then, suddenly plop down against the bean-bag he was laying against. "I was so close, dude!" He told Raph sadly.

"Better luck next time, little brother." Raphael smirked, rather smugly. Leo watched his brothers' shenanigans as he'd had for a long time; the familiarity of it was comforting yet seemed almost different than it had before, though he had no idea what had changed. The feeling of change was quite different this time. Many times had he felt it, but not like this. His mind wandered through possible explanations for it; but he only came up with more questions once again. Watching them carrying on though, felt more like a relief than anything. And inside he was smiling wider than he actually was. Just the same, he couldn't help but be amused by it; as he knew that it was one of the only things that would never change. Nearing the bottom of the five or so steps, he somehow caught his foot on the last one and hit the floor on his knees. The clang of his crutch announced to the whole lair of his presence.

"Leo!" Mikey cried, as he and Raph immediately got up to help him; the rest of the team coming to him as well.

"I'm fine! I'm fine." The turtle replied quickly, taking Raph's hand to pull himself up; bracing the other to his knee. Mikey had picked up his crutch and handed it to him discreetly, as if trying to hide it for his brother's sake.

"What happened there?" April asked curiously.

"Ah, just tripped myself." Leo shrugged loosely. "Happens when I'm off balance." April's expression shifted, as if she almost didn't believe him.

"Well hopefully soon you'll be able to get rid of that thing, and get it back again." Raph stated optimistically.

"I hope so too." Leo agreed, smiling at his brother slightly.

**Hey what's up everybody! How's it hanging?! This chapter was a lot of fun for me. Especially the nightmare sequences and the interactions with Leo and the other characters. It's been quite enjoyable for me in that respect. Anyway though, enjoy this new chapter! And I'll see you guys next week! Thx!**


	19. Progress?

Chapter eighteen: Progress?

The door opened; and the figures that encouraged this action entered the quiet room. The thump of fists to the padded wood floors indicated their intentions.

"Master, we've just received word.." Razhar reported, peeking up from his respectful bow for only a short while. "Kai Shin… is no more."

"It was his own.. insubordination that cost him his life at the hands of those half-shelled menaces!!" Shredder coughed, causing a fit of such that nearly sounded like his lungs being coughed out of his chest.

"Easy Master." Tiger Claw cautioned, gazing up to his master. "You need to preserve your strength to heal for us. You cannot lead the Foot Clan until you have recovered _fully_ from your wounds."

"Perhaps.." Shredder breathed, finally recovering from the earlier coughing attack. "But I make this suggestion only once… let Kai Shin be an example for those who intend on defeating the turtles so foolishly on their own." The small group of mutants all adopted strange looks that Shredder could not see, but nonetheless they got up and left in silence.

XXXX

"Relax bro, you'll get there." Mikey reassured his brother in blue, as he lunged at Donnie with his nunchucks swinging about him all the while.

"Yeah, but when?" The young leader protested simply; gesturing with one hand while keeping the other on his crutch for support. "I can't keep doing this. Having to sit back and watch while everything goes on without me." April sliced her way into the battle with Raph close at her side.

"It's not going on without you." She told him. "You're still here to lead us. You're just on a break for a little while."

"We said that last time." Leo responded sadly, dropping his unfortunate gaze to the ground. "And that break turned out to be several _months_ long."

"Injuries are never easy." Splinter told him. "I myself have had more than one to deal with. But I have always remembered one thing… that I will come back stronger every time. Just knowing that I could not fully reach my potential at one time; encouraged me to press harder to be better for the next time. Remember, my son; _wisdom comes from making mistakes_, and how we come back from them is all that matters." Leo seemed doubtful, unbeknownst to them that is; but said nothing. Raph landed out of ninja leap across the room, ending up about a yard or two from the giant tree opposite where Leo and Splinter stood next to it.

"Feel like giving it a try?" He asked, turning to Leo and shrugging, with his Sai still in hand. Leo thought for a moment; a nagging feeling deep inside telling him not to, but another encouraging him to at the same time. The turtle couldn't have felt more controversial in his life; but yet here was the choice he was faced with. Should he resist this desire to be ok, or should he feed that flame to make himself feel better? He almost looked at Splinter for approval, but decided against it; likely because he feared what he'd say.

"Uh…" He looked down to test his knee as if expecting pain; but nothing happened. "I guess I could try." He answered finally, then, shifting his feet under him, he dropped the crutch at his side. He took out his katanas and swung them up in front of him; almost as if to show off his skill, when in reality he was attempting to prepare himself for his first _actual_ battle since his injury. Hardening up he lunged forward toward Raph, who stood ready to receive; with the idea in mind to go easy on his injured brother. Leo came in for a slicing combination, which Raph evaded and managed to sweep a leg under him; sending him to his knees. Leo tucked his head under and somersaulted forward, to land a double-footed kick up to Raph's chest. Landing on his feet, they caught each other's weapons on an_ 'X' _pattern. Leo's hands gripped the handles of his swords, but they soon began to tremble; and he could feel his strength quickly be sapped from him, as Raph weighed in hard against him. The turtle in blue desperately thrust his weight to the right and managed to disarm Raph's left hand; releasing their remaining weapons. Leo had to brace his hands to his knees; his breaths feeling heavier than he was used. He looked down for only a moment, but had to immediately dive away; as Raph stabbed his remaining sai at him, which ended up missing him by barely anything at all. Raph repeated this action a few more times and Leo darted away in a zig-zag pattern to avoid him. By the fifth one though, a wave of heavy pressure crashed over his head. The blow was so disorienting that, he had to drop his weapons to hold his head as he stumbled back(feeling almost as if his own skull had caved in on him). Hitting the tree behind him his fell forward onto his knees and suddenly the pressure was gone. He froze when he realized he could now hear voices again; and then felt the warmth of a hand touch his arm.

"Bro, you ok?" Raph repeated, sitting in a one-legged kneeling position with his right hand on his brother's shoulder; and the other braced to his left knee, sai still in hand.

"This isn't working." Leo decided quickly, throwing his hands up to make everyone withdraw slightly; so he could get up. "I guess I'm still not ready to train." He sighed, briskly grabbing his crutch and exiting the room; leaving everyone with quizzical and concerned looks on their faces.

_XXXX_

Leo sat out in the main living area; as the others stood at a distance by the kitchen entrance, watching him stare listlessly out at seemingly nothing. Each of them looked at one another, then at Splinter. April then plucked up the courage to make an approach. Leo hardly seemed to notice her presence, as she sat down just below his chair.

"So… um.. what exactly happened back there?" She asked him slowly. Leo remained silent, his blank gaze unchanging and emotionless. April quietly sighed, turning her head back around to relax back again.

"I wasn't ready." Leo's voice finally mumbled, making her turn back to him again. "I thought I was but-.." He dropped his gaze sadly. "I guess I'm still just not there yet."

"That's not true." April denied quickly, shifting herself up to sit facing toward him. "You were doing fine. You probably just panicked. It happens.. you're still recovering, ya know."

"I know that but-.. I've never just frozen up like that." Leo protested, becoming only slightly frustrated now. "I'll admit I've had my moments-.. but never like that."

"You were injured after a long rough battle; and took weeks to recover to this point…" April reminded him. "You're likely gonna be a little high strung about things for a while. But once you start working at it more, you'll calm down again; I'm sure of it."

"At least someone thinks so." Leo sighed dryly, his eyes hitting the floor once more.

"I like to be optimistic, as you should be." April returned matter-of-factly.

"Not sure how to feel optimistic, given the situation." Leo replied slowly.

"A good place to start would be to try again." April suggested. And Leo began to consider this; entertaining the possibility, as if it were as intriguing as she'd made it sound.

_XXXX_

Leo stood amongst his friends, each of them positioned around a large circle; preparing for the release.

"Hajime!" Splinter called out. April and Karai lunged forward to attack one another in a series of slices and blocks; ninja leaping away as Raph and Mikey began their sparring segment. When Raph and Mikey had leapt out of the way; only Leo, Donnie, and Casey remained.

"Maybe one of us should sit this one out." Donnie thought aloud, hesitantly looking at Casey.

"No." They both looked up in surprise of Leo's forceful tone. "I'll take you _both_ on." He told them with determination dripping off his face; then lunged into a sprint toward them. Seeing no other option the two took off as well. As their battle began, Leo seemed to keep pace with them; even though there were two of them, and remained determined to stay that way.

Mikey slid to a stop across from Raph with only a couple yards between them.

"Come on, gimme your best shot!" Raph taunted, antagonizing his brother in orange.

"You sure you're ready for all this?" Mikey returned cheekily, sporting some moves of his own. Raph sneered hotly and plunged toward him. Catching on to Raph's impulsiveness, he caught his brother's sai with one of his nunchucks; and swung him around sending him right on past him.

Leo had just landed a kick to Casey, sending him barreling away from him, when he looked up just in time to see Raph hurtling toward him. The two collided head on(quietly literally), knocking Leo flat on his back, as Raph tumbled on. As soon as he hit the floor, a huge disorienting wave of dizziness slammed over him; almost making him sick. Waves, like aftershocks, washed over him again and again afterward. He lay there numbly, still stunned by the sudden ambush that knocked his breath out of him. Raph began to recover himself, only making it to his hands and knees with a groan, when he looked straight up.

"Oh no, Leo!" He cried, pushing himself to step up, he braced his hand to his knee to get up. At this moment, though, something inside of Leo seemed to shift in a matter of seconds. His eyes opened wide in that solid white form, and he immediately thrust his legs up to pop himself back onto his feet. He lashed out at Donnie, blindly swept up in a rage, seeming unaware of what he was doing; but didn't seem to care at all. Raph saw this and ran forward, grabbing Leo in a firm choke hold, he locked both arms across his brother's chest and held as tightly as he could.

"Dude, calm down." He soothed in a constricted manner, mainly due to the struggle. "It's us." Leo thrust his head back to hit Raph in the eye; making him let go to grab his face, as he stumbled backwards. Then Leo went to attack April; but was cut off by Donnie stepping in his way. Leo dodged the brainy turtle's bladed Bo staff, and ended up far back away from them. Karai and Casey came up next to Donnie, as they all stared over at their leader in blue. After standing there a moment, Leo plunged forward, and looked to his right just in time to receive a blow his head from the end of Mikey's nunchucks. The blow stopped his attack, and he stumbled to his left and hit the floor on his side. Raph was immediately came to his side, kneeling down to place a hand on Leo's right arm; since he was facing away from him. They all stood there anxiously, frozen with worry as they waited for something to happen. Soon Leo stirred and rolled onto his back, his eyes slowly blinking open.

"What-.. What happened?" He asked distantly, a pounding in his head indicating the headache he, now, had.

"I'm afraid it happened again." Donnie explained with a sigh.

"Ugh, great." Leo groaned dryly.

"Hey don't sweat it man, you're still working on getting better." Raph reassured him tenderly, patting his arm gently.

"So… how did this happen?" Leo asked, still possessing that glassy-eyed distance that they'd seen just moments ago.

"You and Raph accidentally butted heads, it must have been enough to trigger your brain to react that way." Donnie hypothesized inquisitively.

"Yeah.. maybe." Leo guessed thoughtfully, lightly groaning once more. He looked up when Raph extended a hand to him.

"You ok?" He said tenderly. Leo took it and began to pull himself up.

"Yeah-.." But when he'd gotten about halfway up he stopped, due to the sickening feeling returning. "Nope." He followed up a moment later, and he immediately lowering himself back down again with a painful groan. Then April dashed from the room right away, as Leo's vision began to slightly blur. The pounding of his headache hammered on his head, as he suddenly began to feel a little distant from the rest of himself… and the world around him.

**Hey guys what's up?! I've been working on this story for awhile now, but I am not entirely sure how much more there will be to this. But I hope you guys like what comes next! Thx!!!**


	20. A Place Of No Escape

Chapter nineteen: A Place Of No Escape

Twenty minutes had gone by and Leo still lay there with the cool, wet cloth over his eyes and the ice pack on his forehead; as he had been told to do.

"Are we trying to push him into something he's not ready for?" Raph asked aloud, an unfamiliar feeling of doubt coming over him. April took his hand and guided the ice pack he was holding back up to his eye, after he had turned back their way from saying this.

"We didn't _push him_ into doing anything. He made the choice for himself." Donnie reminded him.

"Still.. do you really think he's ready for this?" April spoke up. "I mean.. if he's still struggling this much.."

"There is nothing wrong with starting to train again." Splinter put in; his eyes still on Leo. "But Leonardo _is_ trying too hard to achieve more than he is able to handle at this time."

"So… he's just overdoing it?" April reiterated innocently, they all looked back at him as he drew in a deep, slow sigh. "Then… what do we do about it."

"We must take his training and rehabilitation a bit more seriously." The old rat master explained simply. "And consider an alternative to our current state."

"Like what?" April wondered.

"I think it's something we must all take time to think about… meditate on." Splinter returned wisely. With that, April simply wandered her eyes over to Leo, as she now began to think about what he had said.

XXXX

_Leo stared into the intense gaze of his cloudy-eyed twin. The bruising and scratches on his skin acting as a chilling reminder of what he, himself, had recently been through. The black-masked double stared icily at him, like he would attack at any moment. Suddenly a wind blew towards Leo himself; blowing the double's black mask tails over his shoulder toward him. A__nd he had to shield his face again, as his skin singed red once more; spreading until all his burns had returned. The pain burned as fiery as it had the day it happened, and suddenly a horrible dizziness came over him. He stumbled back, until he finally hit the floor on his back. He only looked up when he felt pressure on his chest. His other self stood over him, his arm leaning on his knee above the foot he had on top of him. His stone-faced glare remained unchanged, as they stared at one another once again; which seemed to last a lifetime. Leo then went to grab his foot to throw him off of him, but the double lifted his other hand from behind his opposite side; wielding a clawed weapon similar to Shredder's gauntlet, and swung down to run him through!..._

Leo immediately sat up, but as soon as he did a ringing in his ears sounded and his head pounded a little. When it subsided, he sighed and gazed out in front of him to drop it into his lap. _No escape_. He thought to himself. He looked up to his left to see all the Space Heroes posters he had hanging up on the walls. All his life, he'd admired the man on that poster; Captain Ryan. But never did he think being leader would be this tough. Keeping up appearances seemed to be getting more and more difficult, though he knew one of these days he was likely to be caught. _Though the struggles of the night_, he thought, _had to stay in the night_. In the closet as it were… away from the team's eyes;... for as long as was possible that is.

XXXX

_**SLICE! CLANG! HIYAH!! **_Raph and Leo went at it again! Everyone watching, feeling both nervousness and excitement in their hearts at the same time. Raph stabbed, Leo blocked. Leo countered, and Raph adjusted. The two battled on in a free-flowing sequence that didn't seem at all practiced; though Leo's movements seemed a bit staccato due to his healing injuries. As Leo sliced away at his brother in red, his thoughts invaded his focus. The memories of his experiences began to flow back to him;... _the needles,.. the restraints,.. the attacks.. _ The intensity of Leo's attacks slowly shifted to something much different. Raph began to find it difficult to evade the sword wielding turtle, as he was now in a more frantic and desperate state. _Kai's voice,… Chaplin's elixirs,... the constant and agonizing pain,... _Soon Leo began to sport moves, even _Splinter_, had never seen from him. Raph caught Leo's blades at the turtle in blue's right side; but Leo somehow had the strength to force them up, to deliver a kick to his side and Raph somersaulted to his feet again. He had to adjust quickly to catch his brother's blades, as Leo sliced down on him; catching him in a one legged kneel with his knee up, his weapons holding his own in a _'X' _style pattern. Raph rolled back away from him, as Leo's swords plunged into the floor and he pulled them back out; ready to attack again. Standing, now, with one knee in front of him, and his hands to the ground to hold himself up; he lunged up at Leo in a frenzy of attacks. Leo only seeming to get more and more violent toward him, almost as though his life depended on it!! _The lights!! Not the lights!!! The blast!.. The burns!!... The pain!!... The splitting, tearing feeling!! Make it stop!!!!!! _The two turtles caught each other's blades up high, and Raph took this opportunity to make his move. Forcing their weapons apart(facing out), he gave a knee strike to Leo's chest; whipping around to deliver a powerful kick to it that sent him to the ground. Leo's katana clattered from his hands to the ground on either side of him; as the breath was knocked out of him, yet again.

"Leo have you lost your mind?!" Raph cried angrily, standing over him as his dazed brother came out of it again. Now flat on his back, Leo lay stunned by the realization of where he was. _What happened?_ His breaths were still a little heavy and gasping; _but was it from the exercise of training?_ He couldn't be sure,.. All he knew was that one moment he was sparring, and the next he was on the floor. As his breaths began to calm down again, he registered the several pairs of staring eyes that watched him in anticipation and worry; likely waiting for a response to a question that had been asked of him.

"What… happened?" The young leader asked; almost fearing to know the answer. April saw this and something in her mind began to wonder some more; as though something had sparked inside her that she couldn't quite pinpoint… and then it hit her…

XXXX

"It's not his body." April began to explain. "All this time we've been thinking it's been his physical injuries and the feelings he has associated with his injuries that have been causing all this… but- all this time.. it's always been his mind."

"What are you talking about?" Raph questioned, bracing his hands up onto the island to lift himself to a higher elevation.

"I'm saying, that, in order for Leo to _truly_ recover; we need to enter into his mind to find the source of where his trauma is coming from and figure out how to lessen or even _sever_ its effects on him." April explained. "What he went through must've reached into his subconscious, which is why he's been unknowingly attacking us out of fear or anxiety of the situation he was placed in. He may still have lasting effects from that neurotoxin Kai Shin used on him that's just enough to set him off, given the right circumstances; which is why training has been so hard for him."

"That's not exactly the.. _only_ reason." April turned around, as everyone turned their attention to Leo, who was now standing in the doorway of the kitchen; leaning against the doorpost.

_XXXX_

"Why didn't you say something before?" April asked him innocently.

"I.." He began slowly, lifting a hand with his eyes to begin an explanation; but then dropped both when he realized he didn't have anything to say. "I don't know… I guess I wasn't sure how to deal with it, or how you guys would react to it."

"And you think we wouldn't want to help you try and figure it out?" April questioned in an almost disappointed tone.

"No!" Leo spoke up hurtfully. "I just… I didn't know what to do about it… Ever since Kai… I've been feeling so… conflicted.. Lately. It's like I can't even trust my own judgement anymore."

"That is because Kai Shin has poisoned your mind into thinking otherwise." Splinter explained knowledgeably. "He has manipulated your thoughts with a shadow that he only received from the Shredder."

"So what do we do about it?" Raph asked finally.

"I know this sounds crazy.. but I think I can find the source of the problem and fix it." April stated determinedly. "But I'll need to enter his mind to do it; like how we saw into Mikey's mind when the neutrinos attacked it to find his inner self."

"We can give it a try…" Donnie ventured thoughtfully. "But only _you_ can enter this time.. I don't have the equipment to send all of us in."

"Sure we do.." April returned confidently.

XXXX

The doors slid aside and they entered TCRI.. the human receptionist not even looking up from her computer; as they all boarded the elevator to take them all the way up.

Light immediately met them when they doors opened again. A suited figure stepped forward to meet them, accompanied by other former Krrangdroids.

"Turtles; human allies." Bishop greeted as welcomingly as his alien tone would allow. "I hear you are in need of our assistance."

"Are you sure about this April?" Leo whispered to her subtly.

"Trust me." She returned certainly, hen strode forward. Raph came up to meet his gaze and shrugged, showing he was as confused and uncertain as he was.

XXXX

Bishop had Leo lie down on an old experimentation table, and his droids began to attach small sensors all over his body; arms, legs, face.. even his chest.

"These will give us every reading we need.." Bishop stated, turning to the team. "Once you are inside, April must guide you through to the central vortex of his inner psyche; there you may actually find the problem."

"Thank you,.. for doing this." Raph had to say; feeling genuine in his words.

"It is my pleasure." Bishop replied. "Now let us begin."

Each one of the them were laid on a table of their own; a reformed, krrang-looking headset placed at the head of it to fit comfortably around each of theirs.

"We will monitor all of your stats; in case something were to happen. But I believe you will find what you are after in no time at all." Bishop explained.

"Ok, everyone ready?" April called, peering around at the team as best she could through the headset.

"Ready as we'll ever be." Raph mumbled.

"Sweet!! Let the mind-meld begin!" Mikey chimed excitedly.

"If there _is_ a mind to meld with." Leo mumbled to himself, so no one would hear.

"Feels like we just did this.." Donnie recalled, as the lights dimmed down to nothing and the parts and panels of the room shifted.

"You kidding? This is nuts!" Karai remarked rather oddly, due to the awkwardness of the situation.

"Let us stay focused." Splinter spoke up. "We are ninja, and we have a purpose in doing this… and that is to free Leonardo's mind of anything holding him back from what he knows he can be. Let us go through this with strength and honor; and we shall prevail." But a small part of Leo's mind wondered; _what if they don't? _Suddenly a light green glow of vein-like lights spread along the walls of the room making its way all around it; until suddenly they could all feel themselves be sucked away into a swirling, whirling wind that dragged them into a dizzying whirlwind of color and rushing sound. None of them could keep from releasing a surprised and estranged yell, as they were literally dragged from their own minds into one that felt not at all like they had imagined it at all.

**Hey guys!!! Another chapter!! Phew! I made it just in time! Been playing catch-up a lot with this one; but thankfully that'll end soon. Because next week will likely be the last chapter. I would've known this weeks ago, but I've been _really _busy with life stuff that for awhile I wasn't able to write much. But I'm getting back on the ball, I hope, so that'll hopefully change. Enjoy this next chapter and I'll see you next time!! Thx!!!**


	21. Uncharted Territory

Chapter twenty: Uncharted Territory

Mikey's hearing rang, as he slowly returned to consciousness. His eyes slowly blinked open and he realized he was lying, face down, on a cold hard floor of nothing.

"Dahh!" He screamed, when seeing nothing but darkness below him. Raph's hand somehow found the back of his head in a frustrated slap.

"Dude, relax." The hot-headed turtle informed him.

"Woah,.. Like, how is this happening Donnie?" Casey asked, looking around and then at Donatello.

"We're floating, genius." Raph interjected bluntly, crossing his arms in annoyance. "You don't have to be a science nerd to know that." Donnie gave him a distasteful look then turned to Casey.

"This mindscape is like nothing I could have imagined." He said. The area was completely dark, only the areas of lighter shapes indicated something being there other than themselves. The lighter tones vaguely defined that if a mountainside that ran on one side where the colors were closer together. The rest of these same shapes took places all around them like stares in the night sky. The team seemed to float in the emptiest place; looking up at everything around them. Donnie studied their surroundings for a short while, then looked down at the group again.

"Hey,.. where's Leo?" He asked, realizing the absence of their leader in blue.

"This is _his_ mind." April reminded him. "He's probably in here somewhere. We just have to locate his _inner_ self, like we did inside Mikey's mind."

"Ok.." The crimson-wearing turtle vocalized unsurely. "But where do we even _start_ looking?" Raph and the team all looked up, when they noticed lights appearing above them. The barely defined shapes each began to burst into color; taking on a square shape, like small screens hanging above them. These_ 'screens'_, they realized, each had an image on them; many, if not, all of them being of happy memories.

"Waoh.." Mikey marveled in awe.

"Amazing." Raph breathed; everyone else as speechless as they, by this sight. April had to close her eyes to focus for a moment; but they shot open again as soon as her mind received something.

"I think, we need to go that way, towards the lights." She said, pointing up at the starry night of memories above them.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Raph asked. "Let's go!"

"Booyaka-bunga!!" Mikey yelled, as they somehow thrust themselves toward the lights after Raph. As they plunged through the abyss of memories, they could hear echoes of voices and sounds from these memories; as though they were coming back to life once more. But after a while, they noticed a gradual shift from cheers and laughter to cries of agony and suffering; the laughter turned dark and the noises from unknown objects became even more chilling.

"What-.. the heck is happening?" Raph groaned, feeling a bit off now. April closed her eyes to focus again; and in her mind's eye a flash of the radiation blast hit Leo once more. She opened her eyes in a snap as it flashed away again.

"I.. I can hear Leo's thoughts." She said. "He's… thinking about the accident again."

"You think you can use it to find him?" Donnie implied curiously.

"I can try." She replied thoughtfully. "Come on!" Then they continued on; dodging the memory squares as they went. The land seemed to shift, so that they could run on the invisible air on an incline that just kept rising. Mikey decided to sport some fancy moves, and part way through them Casey rammed right into him; and they both tumbled into the rest of the team(other than Splinter who instinctively leapt away). They hit the surface of one of the memory squares and burst through it landing in a heap on the ground.

"Ugh, some ninja." Raph muttered dryly, as Splinter hopped in after them. But no one could say or doing anything; when metal clanged together from two figures, which battled before them. Leo in his spiritual warrior attire battled an all-out war, against the Shredder. Looking down over the edge to their left they realized where they stood.

"Talbot Peak.." April breathed aloud thoughtfully. "This is where Leo entered the spirit realm."

"Where he fought the Shredder." Raph finished, almost to himself. The team watched as Leo was stripped of both his blades and sent sprawling to the ground amongst his own arrows.

"Leo!!" Raph cried, stepping forward.

"He can't hear you, Raph." Donnie reminded him, stopping his brother with a hand on his shoulder from behind. "This is just a memory; remember?" Leo lay there still for a few moments, before forcing himself to all fours; and then to stand up with the aid of the wall to his left. His knee clearly bothering him, as he shifted his feet under him.

"Your wounded leg is like a ball and chain, dragging you to your defeat." Shredder sneered menacingly; the team appalled by his words. Leo whipped around with an arrow in hand, in an attempt to catch Shredder off guard; but got caught in a combination of Shredder's kicks that sent him sliding away from him, toward the peak. The repeat of history played out just as it had; Leo having his moment of disbelief, followed by the realization of the truth. And then ultimately… his overcoming moment of destroying the giant manifestation of Shredder with his newly healed knee and a powerful arrow to the villainous Foot Clan leader's eye.

"I can't believe he went through all that." April stated, as Leo turned to head back down the mountain again.

"Yeah.. me neither.." Donnie agreed thoughtfully.

"So.. how do we get out of here?" Karai wondered, bringing their dilemma to light. "The way we came in is gone."

April looked out across the open air around them.

"There!" She called, pointing directly to her left. "It.. looks like another opening." The team stared out at it for a moment; then exchanged glances and shrugs amongst themselves. Raph was the first to take the leap across the open air; making it through the square-shaped portal with hardly any trouble. Mikey soon followed then everyone else in turn. Somersaulting to his feet when breaking the invisible wall; Mikey immediately looked up to what Raph stood staring at. Up above them a ways was the screeching, alien figure of Krrang Prime lashing out at a smaller, faster moving one.

"Leo!!" Mikey cried, placing his hands over his head in distress. Leo landed with his left side facing them; unaware of their presence several yards away. Krrang Prime threw his long tentacle arm in Leo's direction. The turtle adjusted to leap away and evade the multiple, repetitive attacks sent at him. Leo ended up landing a few feet closer to the team with his back to them, as he stared up at the old leader of their _former_ alien enemies. Suddenly, Leo began to rise off the ground; as if the zero gravity was activated again. Krrang Prime soon rose off the ground as well, looking just as confused by this. Just the same, he launched an arm at Leo one last time. This time, though, Leo grabbed a hold of it, so that when The alien swung it back to him, he could use the momentum to launch himself toward the exit. Now flying through the air at top speed, he braced for the approaching crash; covering his face as he crashed through the glass-like window. Now free-falling head first, he looked down to see the bright blue that rushed to meet him; swallowing him up in airless bubbles and sea foam. He came up gasping for breath, when an old deactivated Krrang droid floated over to him which he gladly used to stay afloat.

The bubble that had appeared around the team for this part of the memory finally popped; dropping them all into the water with a giant splash. And immediately they realized they were on solid ground again. Raph opened his eyes and looked down, to realize they were sitting on the subway tracks below street-level. The clang of a metal object drew their eyes up; and Leo sprawled to the ground before the corrupted Karai.

"You and your friends are finished." She told him coldly. Ordering the Foot bots to take them away, they all began to feel this sense of defeat; despite knowing how this whole ordeal ended. Karai only looked on in guilt and shame, at the version of herself she wished had never come about. Splinter, having caught on to this, placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. They had just begun to hoist Donatello up to hang with the already poisoned Casey, Raph, and Mikey; when suddenly Leo launched himself up to his feet, destroying the foot bots in a single spinning attack.

"Beating the poison; impressive." Karai told him.

"Shredder.. used some kind of brainworm on you." Leo groaned, still doubled over due to the poison's influence.

"Lies won't help you, Leo." Karai snapped harshly. "I'll just have to finish you myself. Hiyah!!" The girl launched herself forward into a dead sprint toward him; and he simply adjusted his stance in preparation to fight. The two engaged one another, and Leo tried his hardest to talk her down; though it only earned him snake-headed arms tossing him down the tracks for several yards. Dragging himself up again, the head's of the snakes shot through the darkness to sink their teeth into both his arms! And Karai's feet soon followed; sending him into the pillar behind him. Raph seethed in anger of his brother's suffering; Karai turning her head away from him sheepishly, unbeknownst to him.

"You're weak, Leo." The other Karai sneered. "And you're done for!!" But the only response Leo had for this was…

"Rin, Pyo, Toh, Sha…" The motion of his hands reminded them of exactly what he was doing. And the more he did it, the more intense he became about it; his hands even beginning to glow the way Splinter's had.

"Kai, Jin, Retzu, Si, Zen.."

"What are you doing?!" Karai demanded in surprise. "What is this?" And that's when Leo touched himself; bathing himself in the healing light that was the Healing Hands glow. When Leo didn't answer, she plunged forward toward him. But as she reached him, he opened his eyes and repeated the chant; as he finished their battle with one final blow! A light appeared behind them in the shape of a door; stepping into it, they found something very different than what they'd just seen.

They immediately ducked away, as throwing stars sliced by them. Foot bots rounded the corner to find nothing, suddenly Leo was behind them and sliced them to pieces. Leo glanced to his right and darted down the corridor through the maze.

"Come on!" Raph called, waving them over, as he dashed after his brother in blue. Soon they were out in the open again. Peering over a stack of metal piping, they discovered that Leo was now fighting over a dozen or more Foot bots… alone! Leo suddenly landed above them on top of the stack, holding his katana ready as the Foot bots closed in below him. Leaping down on them, he plunged his katana down into one; immediately pulling them out to attack the rest. One after the other, he faced them head on. Stars flew and he easily and skillfully deflected them. Throwing away one of his swords, he nailed a Foot bot directly. Then, slicing through another one with the other, he flipped over the decapitated bot; leaping off the stack of pipes to retrieve his weapon and destroy, yet another, Foot bot.

"Wow, can't believe he was doing _this_, the whole time during all the madness of the Krrang invasion." Raph realized. Leo demolished yet another bot, his breaths a bit heavy by now.

"Fire!!" Shredder's voice rang out. Leo and the team looked up.

"Oh no." Leo breathed to himself. Switching on his defensive side once again, he managed to maneuver himself around as he worked his way back away from the flying arrows; managing to slice through, or evade, all of them. He stared up at the Shredder and his mutant minions with his blade out in front of him.

"Stop hiding behind your Foot bots!" Leo demanded, pointing the Foot Clan leader out. "Face me, Shredder!!"

"You are beneath me, turtle." Shredder hissed. A chain shot from nowhere, catching his wrist to drag him against the wall to his left. Leo had to throw his weapon away once again, as he was charged by another Foot bot. And immediately after he twisted his body about, in an attempt to avoid getting stabbed in the back by the blade piercing through the wall behind him. He reached for the chain to free himself, but the wall suddenly shattered and he was free again. Stumbling out of it, he went hand to hand with more Foot bots, taking them out as best he could; but one slipped past his defenses and landed kick that sent through another wall. Recovering from the fall, he stood up again, stumbling back against the edge behind him as he peered down at a multi-level drop just in front of him. As he did so, he looked up to see more Foot bots take up positions all around the rim of the giant hole, on the same level as he was and the one just above him. They charged him again.. and he whipped out his final blade.

Now almost in a blind rage, he plunged forward; ruthlessly destroying any bots within his reach. Slicing and dicing them to bits, he leapt off the wall to grip the edge of scaffolding above him, and swing himself around and up onto it. He lunged forward to stab a Foot bot into the wall in front of him. And, catching on to an ambush from behind, he fingered out the dagger in his sword's handle and whipped around to stab it into the Foot bot; taking it out and pushing it over the edge. Leo stared down at what he'd done, as he began to cool down; his breaths much heavier by now due to all the fighting. Just then though a hand on his leg brought his attention down, as a destroyed bot emerged to push him off balance into the hole below. At that moment, a darkened shape circled around to swallow them in one buck-toothed bite!

**Hi guys! It's me again! So I know I said this was going to be the last chapter... but.. psych! It's not!! Though I _do_ think the _next _chapter will be the last. And, that being said, this'll be the first story to _ever _go over twenty chapters in _any_ of my writing in this site. So yay for that! Anyway enjoy this chapter and I hope to see you one last time for next week. Thx!!!**


	22. No More Ghosts Of The Past

Chapter twenty-one: No More Ghosts Of The Past

"Ugh, where are we now?" Mikey asked, holding his head to try and stop his head from spinning. Leo sneered as his wooden crutch hit the solid ground. They were now in the woods, back where the farmhouse resided. Leo's frustrated sigh told them all they needed to know. When suddenly he looked up, noticing a strange light in the sky.

"What?" He wondered aloud in confusion. Then he realized the light was blazing toward him! Leo darted away as quickly as his wounded body would allow, as something smashed down to where he'd been standing. When the dust had cleared, Leo stood before a giant rock with glowing blue veins.

"Woah." He breathed in awe. Hesitantly, he reached a hand out to touch it; a white glow came over him and it felt fine. But that suddenly changed when a staticky blast shocked him back, hitting the tree directly behind him; dropping him face down on the ground under it. Leo lifted his head immediately; opening one eye, then the other.

"Weird; that didn't hurt?" He realized to himself, beginning to stand up. Testing his leg, he found it didn't hurt anymore! Then took off in a series of moves, somehow powerful enough to kick right through the trunk of tree! Things were going great… when suddenly they weren't.

"And what does every superhero need?" A terrifyingly familiar voice said.

"Who's there?' Leo demanded suspiciously.

"Dire beaver!" Soon Leo was being bashed around like a ragdoll, pain and fear all he could feel at this point. A flash changed the scene again.

"Ugh, more forests?!" Mikey complained. Raph belted him across the head, when they heard a familiar grunt. Swiftly rushing through the trees and brush for a short distance, they soon found Leo on all fours; mask in hand and blade at his side. He gasped for breath as he slowly recovered from the fall. Mikey stepped forward to help him up but his hands phased right through his brother in blue. Surprised, he drew back again.

"He's not real." Donnie reminded him. "We can't touch him.. and he can't see us." Leo forced himself to get up, shakily pressing on. Coming up in the old shed, he peered around a tree at it; as The Creep disappeared into it with an unconscious April and Casey in hand. Adjusting his footing so he could see the path leading to the shed, he called out:

"Help!... Help!" Only a few moments passed before the Creep exited the shed to search for the owner of the voice. With his mask back in place, he took out a throwing star. Using one eye to aim it just right; he chucked it at the creature, successfully pinning it to the top of his head gaining its attention. Their battle began with a staggering amount of intention; Leo's struggle felt both commendable and heartbreaking to the team, as they watched him. This battle, however, morphed into his _second_ encounter with the monster; when it returned and brought Snakeweed back to life. The Creep deciding to ambush him the moment he was alone to train, due to a brain serum that somehow enhanced his mental capacity. Yet again the scene cut out. A square of light appearing under them; to drop them into, yet another, memory. Though this one confused three of them more than the rest; everything glowed in off greens and blues. Leo groaned where he was.. suddenly he was upright again screaming.. "No!!" Then proceeded to tell himself to snap out of it, when a loud rumble drew him to turn around and look up. A giant eyeball stared down on him, and he felt a strange sense of cognitive sentience in it.

"Mutegen." Leo stated obviously, staring down at the familiar canister covered in spores.

"Taste… fear… feed…" Leo dropped to his knees; the effects of the giant mushroom's words consuming his thoughts through his own worst fear.

"It's.. in my head." He mumbled to himself.

"More… fear… stronger!" The mushroom sang.

"Fight your fear, Leo. Fight your fear." He mumbled to himself, as he sat there.

"Spread..my..spores!!" The mushroom pressed.

"Fight it!!" Leo finally exclaimed, whipping out his katana, with a loud _hiyah!_ He began the fight; as mushroom mutants rushed in to overwhelm him. He seemed to fight for an eternity, but then he was finally slammed against the wall; hitting the ground hard. Everything went dark as they watched Leo's nightmare manifest to attack his mind.

"I can't do it.." he told himself. He rambled on about his failure, until his own blade suddenly appeared to show a flashing reminder of what Master Splinter had told him some time earlier.

"No! No, I can't give up!" Leo decided. He focused deeply and soon took on a pure white glow. "Your spores won't work on me." He declared to the monster. "I face my fear every single day!" With new found strength, he fought through until he had ultimately destroyed the spores, with an exploding eyeball and the sunlight that came from the hole it created in the ceiling. When the intense light died down, Leo lay motionless on the ground; waiting unconsciously to be found.

"This is crazy!" Raph exclaimed, as the other versions of themselves came to find their leader in blue. "We don't have time for this. We need to get out of here and find Leo's inner self, so we can fix him once and for all." April heard a whispering noise in her ears, and attempted to trace it.

"I think we're on the right track." She told them simply. "Somehow.. I sense that we're getting closer just by being in here. I think we need to follow these memories wherever they take us, in order to find Leo's inner self."

"Then I guess we better keep moving." Raph sighed reluctantly. Suddenly the ground began to shake and the team stumbled about to stay standing; until finally the ground cracked and crumbled out from under them. Donnie screamed, as he began to fall head first into the darkness noticing another shape down below them. And when they hit it; it was like diving into a pool or ocean of water. Donnie opened his eyes underwater, and turned himself around just enough to come face to face with a seemingly unconscious Leonardo; nearly scaring him out of his own shell!

At first he just floated there lifelessly; but after a moment they were relieved when his eyes slowly blinked open, and began to desperately swim for the surface above. Bursting through the surface into the fresh air with a horrible gasp, he rolled himself up onto the scaffolding. His breaths remained a bit heavy, as his lungs began to slowly recover; his body steaming in the cool air. The heat of battle had been pounding through him in adrenaline rush after adrenaline rush; and now in the calm he hoped that it was over. But unfortunately for him, it wasn't; as he stood up to face Shredder and his _'mutant goons'_, as they often called them, as they stood at street level above him.

"Now, you may finished him." Shredder decided, cuing them in to attack. They slammed Leo to the ground in one hit; repeatedly kicking and punching him. Suddenly Leo grabbed the tubes on Fishface's back and sent him tumbling away. Leaping up onto Rahzar's back, he held onto the double mutated dog as he stumbled about to get him off. Flying way up, he landed on a pipe above them(sticking out of the wall), and used it to to flip himself down on Rahzar landing an enormous kick to send him back as well. Leo let out an earth-shattering yell, as he rolled himself into a double-legged kick up at Tiger Claw; raggedly standing to his feet as soon as the tiger mutant hit the ground. But in a single blast of lightning, a shadow cast itself over his shoulder. And the only thing he saw when he turned was a brief flash of Shredder's face as he swung down to finish the fight. Shredder's blow took him out immediately and Leo fell back motionless to the ground; completely unconscious by the time he hit the ground.

As was to be expected, multiple emotions burst to life within the spectators' hearts. Even Splinter took on a solemn and painful expression.

"That can't be how it happened!!" Mikey cried.

"It probably is.." Donnie sighed hurtfully. "Leo has always had a pretty good memory." The scene began to white out as the evil mutants leapt out of the hole in the ground; carrying Leo with them to continue the memory further without them. They all paced around, waiting for something to happen; when suddenly the scene changed darkening into a place all too familiar even despite the vibe of recency.

"The old auto shop.." April breathed gravely. And Karai felt a chilling sensation come over her, just by being here. Leo's grunts of a struggle sounded; muffled by the walls, as they heard them echo through the vents in the floor and ceiling.

"Come on!" April cried, taking off down the residential hallway in a dead sprint; the team not far behind.

Somehow phasing through the wall, they stopped to find Leo struggling against the restraints; strapped to a table sitting upright so he was practically standing up. Chaplin eerily drew closer, unsheathing the needle in his hand. Leo only struggled more; and jumped at the stick as it pierced through his, already tender, arm. Leo's eyes went white, as he looked to be resisting the strange substance's influence. But after a short while he stopped, going silent with his head and body hanging relaxed.

"Is it done?" Kai asked, seeming to appear from nowhere.

"Yes sir." Chaplin returned brightly. "He should be completely seduced, but you may want to test that out to be sure." Kai silently thought on this, then gave a single nod of approval without even uttering a word. Chaplin turned to his other two men and one of them pressed a button to release the restraints; and Leo hit the ground on his knees, sitting there quietly for a few moments with his head hung as before. Suddenly he launched himself up toward Kai, whipping out his blade and attacking. Kai instinctively engaged, but when Leo became to violent for him, he demanded:

"Stop! That's enough!" Yet Leo continued unimpeded. Finally he landed an elbow strike to Leo's head, and he fell back against the upright table out once more. "This is unacceptable!" Kai announced roughly, turning a shoulder to the sprawled turtle; anger igniting in the team's hearts once again.

"Yes, sir.. I-I'll keep trying." Chaplin stuttered in disappointment.

"You better." Kai threatened icily.

Then the young scientist waved his assistants to put Leo back in the restraints again, as this memory whited out as well...

Everyone stepped out of this memory, as if it were a room in which they had entered normally; but then they froze when they saw what lay waiting for them. A swirling ball of energy surged above them, only seeming to get lighter and faster(but only a slight bit at a time). April felt her temple as the whisper returned once more.

"We're getting close." She told the group. "Come on! We have to get up to that giant ball of energy."

"You mean go towards the freaky deathtrap?" Mikey repeated nervously.

"Get a grip, man." Raph quipped, after slapping his brother in the head once more.

"Let's go!" Karai decided, then they began to leap their way up.

Finally reaching the top they helped pulled one another up, so they all stood on the top of the invisible peak; which they now could look down from to where they had begun. Turning around, the ledge they stood on slope up slightly and there stood the ball of energy. Squinting to see better, April noticed a strange shape standing in the center of it; and began an approach to get a better look.

Forcing herself against the invisible wind, she reached a hand out to touch the light which bathed her in a bright beam; as she parted her way through the surging whirlwind, now all around her. Shielding her head, she pressed on; finally coming up to a familiar figure that she didn't need to see clearly to recognize.

"Leo!! You have to stop this! It's tearing your mind apart!!" She called out to him, as Leo clutched his head to block out the torment that constantly plagued him; which failed to no avail.

"I don't know how!!" Leo cried back; feeling the weight of it all nearly crushing him a the energy swirled faster. "I can't control it anymore!! Not while _he's_ here!"

"_He_?" At first she thought it might be a recreation of Kai; but then as she focused she could feel a dark presence lurking somewhere nearby, one that was not of Kai. Instead it felt more familiar than that… like, years-of-knowing, old. But her mind couldn't quite place it. Her train of thought, however, was suddenly halted when she sensed the presence coming right behind her. Dropping to a deep lunge, the dark Leo plunged over her with his sword stabbing out; intended to take her out. But instead he soared over her and Leo looked up and instinctively caught the blade with his own and suddenly a dark abyss changed the scene around them. The only sound that remained now was Leo's soft, tiring grunts; and the rattle of their blades as Leo's hands shook from trying to hold back his darkened double.

"You have to fight him." April told him, somehow appearing right behind him through the darkness from seemingly nowhere. "He's everything against who you _really_ are… Everything you're afraid of… you can't let it destroy the you that makes you a _great_ leader… and a good friend." She laid a hand on his shoulder. And somehow he felt more strength than he'd had just moments ago. _"You.. are.. a **great**… leader…_" She told him; emphasizing every word as powerfully as she could manage. Leo's eyes went white; and he found the strength to throw his evil twin off of him, sending him tumbling back a ways. The double adjusted landing on his feet, then charged at him again. Leo adjusted his stance and pulled out his other blade; ready to receive his sprinting foe. The two went at it fiercely, each blow more deadly than the last. Each attack more violent than the last, they're battle becoming more and more about destroying one another; though the real Leo never lost his sense of form and quality of movement in his tactics. The sloppier version of himself mindlessly stabbed and Leo countered thoughtfully with that of his own. Closing his eyes he waited, listening for the _wisp!_ he moved accordingly; as though he were blindfolded managing to stab both katanas to his right nabbing the double directly in the center of the torso. He looked up toward it through the corner of his eye, as it's emotionless expression gazed down at the blades impaling him; glaring determinedly at it.

"Never will you haunt my dreams." He snarled at it. Then turning to face it, he yanked his blades out the sides of the dark turtle's body bursting it into a bright light!…

_XXXX_

Suddenly the ball of energy, swirled substantially faster and the team had to shield their eyes from it; fearing it was going to explode and destroy them.

"*grunt* what's going on?!" Raph cried struggling to stay standing, then suddenly the ball burst in an explosion that spread out across the dark land; bathing it in colors that defined themselves as buildings, making up their home of New York City. A figure of light faded away, and Leo was revealed to have been behind it(facing toward them), and dropped to his knees with a gasp of relief. April knelt down to place a hand on his shell and shoulder as the rest of the group drew closer; which she looked up at when hearing their approach.

"What the heck happened?" Raph questioned, gesturing to Leo; who clutched his blades, which were stabbed into the ground and hunching slightly over them. Silence was the answer, as he exchanged looks with April, who silently shrugged in a meaning of finality.

"My demon has finally been defeated." Leo's voice said, as he awkwardly stood up again; looking up at them seriously.

"What are you talking about?" Raph returned, raising an eyebrow.

"Ever since Kai's experiments on me, I guess I've just been.. at war.. with myself." Leo admitted sheepishly.

"A manifestation of his evil self has been attacking his mind." April explained, standing up herself. "He's been fighting it ever since."

"I would have said something, but I wasn't sure how you could help me." Leo explained. Sighing, he dropped his gaze with his shoulders. "Or if there was even a way _to_ help me." His gaze only lifted, when a warm presence set a hand on his shoulder.

"There is _always_ a way to destroy your inner demons…" Splinter told him mindfully. "But you can never go wrong with asking for help, even if it seems like no one can help you."

"I know.." Leo said, dropping his gaze for a moment once again. "I should've tried to sooner."

"There is no need for regret now, my son." Splinter went on. "The problem as been dealt with.. and now you are finally free from the darkness that has plagued your mind for far too long. Let us take comfort in the fact that what has happened, is no longer an issue to concern ourselves with."

"And now that everything's ok again… we need to go." April spoke up finally. "We shouldn't spend anymore time in here than we have to."

"We'll see you on the other side, bro." Raph told Leo glancing back at his brother in blue. They clasped hands and brought it into a hug, before letting their hands slide apart again. "April, lead us out of here." Raph finished, looking to the red-headed girl. April focused herself and a white glow rose up from her blinding everyone from view; emerging, then, into darkness...

_XXXX_

A steamy hiss sounded; releasing their minds from the krrangy headpieces and everyone but Leo sat up groggily.

"Awh, man." Raph groaned lightly. "That.. was interesting."

"Woah.. did we just see what I thought we saw?" Mikey breathed putting his hands to his head in amazement.

"Dude, we just entered Leo's brain!" Casey realized, the unfathomable truth hitting him like a brick wall.

"I know… it wasn't anything like we thought it would be." April agreed thoughtfully. "But I'm glad that we finally got to the root of his problem. Maybe now he'll be able to recover from his whole ordeal... and finally start to _really_ feel better." Everyone turned when another hissing sound shattered the brief silence. The machinery retracted away from Leo, as he peacefully slept where he was.

"Um.. is he ok?" Casey wondered looking at him awkwardly.

"He's fine." April confirmed, hearing the peacefulness of the turtle's mind in her own. "He's just finally getting the peaceful rest he hasn't been getting lately."

"So..I.. guess we can go home now right?" Mikey hinted to the group unsurely, glancing around at them.

"I think we should give him a minute." Raph decided, and everyone had to agree.

_XXXX_

Blades clashed, attacks were thrown. Leo and Raph sparred like their lives were _not_ at stake. The battle remained a constant speed; flowing in and out of every movement seamlessly. It soon ended with Leo disarming Raph's sai, by wrenching them out away from his hands and landing a kick to his chest that scattered the turtle in red backwards on the floor; holding his sword over him triumphantly.

"Ya-me!" Splinter called out. And Leo stepped back obediently to let his brother up. "Well done, Leonardo." The old rat smiled. "You have come a long way since your last struggle with your injuries. I am proud of you, my son."

"Yeah,.. way to go, Leo." Raph agreed genuinely, rubbing a hand to his neck at his humble defeat.

"You looked so much better this time." April beamed proudly.

"Dude! That was awesome!" Mikey squeaked, throwing him a high three; which Leo caught onto swiftly. "It's great to see you back, bro."

"I'm just glad I _am_ back." Leo replied simply.

"We _all_ are." Karai put in, as she entered the dojo; earning their attention.

"Karai!" Leo gasped, a smile appearing in his face, as he left the group to stand before her.

"I know I can't take back what I've done." She said, dropping her gaze away from him and holding her left elbow with her other hand. "But I hope I can someday make it up to you."

"You already have." Leo returned, a warm smile on his face. "You just being here is enough for me, and how you've been here for me this entire time is all that matters." Karai gave him a slight smile in return, and they hesitantly stepped forward into a friendly hug.

"So who's up for some celebratory any size, sausage, anchovy and jelly bean pizza!!" Mikey sang, hopping around the group in a childish manner; as they all filed out of the dojo.

"Only if there's anything _other_ than those toppings on it." April smirked, as they all headed into the kitchen; for Mikey to begin his work of immense passion.

~Guardian Angel?~

**Hey guys! How's it going?! So this is it! The final chapter. Man! I was wondering if this would ever come; but here it is. And, boy, I can't believe how far this story has come since I started it!! Could you believe that this story started from a snippet of Karai kidnapping Leo, and the thought in mind of what might happen because of it? Well that's exactly what happened here!! Thank you all soo much for stopping by to read my story and to those of you who enjoyed it! I hope to write more TMNT in the future, but I'm not sure when. **

**Also I would like to make you aware that I am now on WattPad, under the name Venus DeMilo(my _full _username was too long to work on the site). I will likely only be posting original work on it, which I started officially with the intro of a fantasy style book as a trial run, before I write anything to publish on it further. So I could totally use some insight and feedback on it if you are interested(and have the time of course, cause life is crazy!)!!**

**Anyway, though, enjoy this final chapter, and I hope to see you guys again soon. Thx!!!**


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